Light Of Victory
by Luminous107
Summary: We've all been there, on the losing end of a duel. But those who grow up and continue to duel eventually learn that losing is no longer a big issue, but losing EASILY can terrify any duelist. There's an old evil haunting the former Numbers Hunter and Kite must learn that losing is no option because there's more at stake and he can't afford an easy loss...again. Diamond/Anxiety.
1. Chapter 1

A/N: It feels so good to be getting your stories alerting my phone again, I promise I WON'T let this disaster happen again. Now moving on, seeing as how I've been gone for a while I've decided to reward you all for your patience with a new story, yes an actual story…with CHAPTERS, no more one-shots for a while. So here's one for all of you Yu-Gi-Oh! fans out there, mainly the Zexal fans if there's any left; or any to begin with (lol). Not going to lie, it's an okay show and it's only going to get better over time, trust me. Before we begin I'm letting you know now that the cards will have their TCG effects, the characters will have their English names except for some who haven't gotten dubbed yet, I will still be using anime cards as well and not making up my own and finally this story will take place after the Barian Invasion where Kite (yes, Kite) defeated Misael. I own nothing appearing in this story, not the cards or the characters. Enjoy!

Light of Victory

Chapter 1

Kite: 900 Duelist: 1500

"Well, well, well," taunted the challenging duelist, "the once-Number hunter, Kite Tenjo, son of the notorious Dr. Faker is now backed up to a corner with his life points down very low and NOTHING on his field, meanwhile I control this duel now!" Kite breathed heavily, how did it come to this? He's never been in this position before, but he wasn't going to let fear get the best of him. He thought about how he got himself in this duel.

Kite was now living a peaceful life with his family and new friends. They defeated the Barians and returned them all back into humans. The problem there was his dueling. Yuma stated that he is a strong duelist and could overcome any obstacle any opponent put him through but now he can't even fight back. Lately his duels have started becoming near-losses and he started doubting his skills. He didn't mind losing duels, everyone had to lose sometimes but it was losing EASILY that bothered him. During his old Numbers hunting days, winning used to be his main priority and losing was no option. Even against the Barians he knew that losing the duel would means losing a lot more. His victory over Misael was his biggest one yet because he proved that he was the real Galaxy-Eyes Master. But when things started to calm down, winning didn't seem like that big of an accomplishment anymore. But now it looked like it wouldn't be an achievement either. He considered his victories weak because he was solely depending on lucky draws.

Word started getting around that Kite might be losing his edge and duelists started lining up to make names for themselves. Kite was embarrassed and very frustrated with himself and his deck because he kept getting challenges from duelists who wanted to prove to Kite that they can hold their own. This one was no different, because of their difference in life points, the duelist became very cocky. What Kite saw as a friendly duel turned into and expose' on the Galaxy-Eyes Master's predictable loss.

Kite looked at his field, empty, and his opponent's had Evolzar Solda. He then looked at his hand, the only card that could help him and it was the only one there: Galaxy-Eyes Photon Dragon. "I can't summon him," he thought to himself, "and even if I do, that dragonic-dinosaur will destroy it, there MUST be a way around it." The duelist looked at Kite's fierce face, the blue D-Gazer-like tattoo and all showed that this duel was officially over and only one of them was walking out victorious.

"It's my move and I draw!" Kite looked at his hand, never wishing for luck to be on his side once again so badly as he looked at the card he drew. "It's over!" he yelled to the confused duelist, "I activate the spell Photon Trade! This card allows me to discard a Photon monster so I could draw two more cards!"

"Draw all the cards you want!" yelled Kite's opponent, "it won't be enough to get rid of my Evolzar Solda, don't tell me you forgot? He can't be destroyed by your card effects. And if by some shred of a lucky chance you manage to, you STILL won't get out your Galaxy-Eyes 'cause Solda will destroy it the second he hits the field!"

"You talk too much," Kite said sarcastically and he looked at the cards he gave up his almighty dragon for, and they were just enough to win him the duel. "Now," the blond duelist claimed, "I summon Photon Pirate!" A blue luminated mechanical pirate appeared with a cutlass in his mechanical hand. The other duelist laughed, "he only has 1000 attack points? You really ARE losin' your edge, you'll pretty much do anything just to defend yourself. Well don't worry Kite, I'll be very quick and leave you and your easily-evitable loss to wallow in humiliation." "I'm not done," he told him coldly, "I know he's weaker than Solda, that's why I'm activating the spell card Desperate Scrape!" Kite's opponent looked on as Kite proceeded to explain the spell's effect, "at the cost of 800 of my life points I can lower the attack power on one of your monsters in half." Kite LP (900-100) Both duelists watched as Evolzar Solda's attack points dropped down to 1300. "This can't be!" complained Solda's owner, "well at least your toy pirate is still weaker."

"Right now he is but just wait 'cause I activate Photon Pirate's special effect: by removing a Photon monster from my graveyard from the game, Pirate will gain 1000 extra attack points." Photon Pirate gained his attack points and grew a little bigger.

"You may be getting rid of my Solda but that still won't be enough to defeat me 'cause come next turn it's over."

"That's why I'm activating Pirate's effect TWICE!"

"WHAT?!"

The mechanical pirate grew again with a total of 3000 attack points and began to position itself for battle. "Photon Pirate," Kite shouted, "finish him off!" "Oh no…OH NOOOOO!" yelled the Evol duelist as he saw the mechanical pirate race towards the blue Evol dragon and cut it in half with the cutlass, reducing his life points to 0 in the process. (Evol Duelist (1500-0).

Orbital 7, who surprisingly had been unusually quiet for the entire duel, transformed into his glider form and grabbed the victorious duelist, leaving the Evol player lying on his back with the loss replaying over and over before his eyes. Kite glanced back to him, "that could've been me."

The two arrived at what was once the Heartland Tower, now just a home for the Tenjo family. Orbital 7 and Kite were silent until they reached the hallways. "Ma-Master Kite-"

"Stop, Orbital," kite told him, "I'm tired and I don't feel like saying anything else." The robot understood and he rolled away, "maybe I shoulda' st-stayed quiet." Kite walked past Hart's room, he quickly peeked in to check on him. The younger Tenjo brother was sound asleep. Knowing full well that he was no longer under the control of anyone and that he was safe brought some relief to his conscience.

Kite made his way to his room and removed his black overcoat, gloves and shirt. He was about to get ready to go to sleep until he started feeling dizzy. "GAHH!" a pain shot right in Kite's heart making him collapse. He was still conscious enough to drag himself to the restroom. "Not again! This CAN'T be from the Photon Transformation," he said to himself painfully, "I thought I took care of that!"

Once he got to the restroom he grabbed the sink and pulled himself up. Looking at the mirror he saw that he was alright and the pain seemed to have faded away. "Wonder what that was, probably nothing," he said. He proceeded to wash his face to clear himself of the events that just happened and relaxed, "I'll work on my deck tomorrow." Before he turned to his left to get to his bed the pain in his heart resumed. He winced at the pain and almost collapsed until he glanced at his reflection again.

There he saw in horror what the cause of his heart feeling like it would explode was. He saw it crystal clear in purple glowing light before he collapsed and was out cold.

The number 107.

To Be Continued…

If I can get some good reviews then I'll continue this story, if not then I'll just try something else. I hope you all enjoyed it, until next time!


	2. Chapter 2

A/N: as always I want to thank a few people for contributing to my stories. Shadownape for adding me to the favorites and for following me and 'Light Of Victory,' Bloodlustful for faving my first three TTA fics, Acosta Perez Jose Ramiro for the reviews for 'Hate That I Love You' and Furrball's Confessions,' and finally to richman237 for the review for 'It's In His Kiss,' I'm letting you know now that that one is my favorite story and I'm really proud of it. And anyone else who took the time to read on, I really appreciate it, it's what keeps them alive. Which is why I present to you chapter 2! I won nothing except the OC who will only appear in this chapter. Enjoy!

Light Of Victory

Chapter 2: Getting Schooled

Kite woke up finding himself on his bed. Looking around he saw that he was still in his room. "Strange," he thought "last I remember I was on the bathroom floor…because of…why?" He didn't think too much of it, rather than dwell on unimportance he dressed himself in his regular clothing, consisting of his old farmer-looking attire of a pink shirt and brown pants.

At the "kitchen" table sat Hart eating his breakfast. He looked up and acknowledged his older brother walking in, "good morning, Kite," the older Tenjo brother nodded to his younger sibling, "good morning, Hart," he replied quietly. He put a hand on the kid's shoulder and made his way to the window, showing a great view of Heartland City. There was silence, too much of it yet Orbital stayed out of it fearing it would annoy Kite with his nonsense. Instead, Hart spoke up, "Kite…?"

"Hmm?" Kite turned his head a little to acknowledge his brother, "what were you doing on the floor?" he asked

"What do you mean?"

"I heard you last night screaming…I went to your room to see if you were okay. But when I got there you were on the floor. I ran towards you and noticed that you were out cold so I ran to Dad-"

At that last word, Kite shook his head and faced Hart in the eyes, "I told you not to call him that," he said coldly. Hart didn't look away from Kite's gaze; instead he stayed silent as he knew what he was going to say. "He still hasn't earned the right for us to call him that again," he then turned back to the city view while Hart continued; "-so I ran to…our FATHER and told him." Kite listened to every word while still facing the city's business, "he ordered Orbital and a few other robots to come help you back to bed," Hart continued, "he said he would be running a few tests to see if there's anything wrong."

Kite didn't want to think about the past night, something about it made him want to shut his eyes and disappear. He turned around while facing the floor, "Kite," asked Hart, "is everything okay?" Kite still had his eyes gazing the floor until he looked up toward Hart to speak, "go get ready Hart," he stated, "you just started school, you don't want to be late." Hart finished up his breakfast and left the kitchen, "he needs help," he thought as he walked to his room, "there must be something I can do…"

As soon as Hart left the room, Kite was left to think about the past night, "there was that duelist I faced, I beat him…through dumb luck. That's right, I have to work on my deck." He got up and headed back to his room. He took his deck apart and proceeded to study it. Before he could even begin to decide what he should replace, Hart came in with his backpack over his shoulders and his deck box on the left side of his hip. "Kite," he said, "I'm ready now." Kite looked up to his younger brother and realized something, "oh that's right," he thought, "I'm supposed to take Hart to school. I've been taking him ever since he started, how could I forget about it today?" He put his cards in his deck box, strapped it on his belt, "I'll head to the lab after I drop him off, I need the practice."

"Orbital," Kite ordered as they made their way outside, "cycle mode." The stuttering robot did as he was told and transformed himself into a motorcycle big enough for the Tenjo brothers to ride in. Kite rode in front and drove while Hart sat right behind him, holding on to Kite's hips. Both had helmets and were ready to go, "alright," said Orbital, "ne-next stop, Heartland Academy."

On the way over to the school, Hart received a call on his D-Gazer, "Hart," it was Dr. Faker, "Yes?

"Could you put your brother on please?" Hart put the F-Gazer close to Kite while he still handled the bike, "What is it?" he asked.

"We still haven't figured out what happened to you last night, our team found nothing that seemed to be a threat to your health but just to be sure I do NOT want you using your Photon Transformation, we don't know if that's the problem or not." Kite seemed a little relieved but nervous at the same time, if his transformation WAS the cause of his collapse then what was the point in keeping that power?

The trio eventually arrived at the school, there Yuma and the rest of the gang were waiting for them. "Look!" cried out Rio, "they're here!" The others looked over to see Orbital and the Tenjo brothers walking towards them. "Hey guys," Yuma said, "so Kite, are you gonna' make it here for the school's free Duel Period?" Kite thought about it, "actually I will, and I'm challenging you, Yuma." Yuma couldn't believe what he just heard, "Alright! I accept your challenge Kite!" Astral floated nearby Yuma, "this should be a rather interesting duel," he said, "we haven't faced Kite since the end of the World Duel Carnival, yet I cannot help but wonder why the sudden challenge."

"It's not just you I'm challenging," continued Kite, "where's Reginald?"

"Oh you know Reggie," teased Rio, "he's either coming in late or he's somewhere else trying to be the coolest kid he wishes he were."

"Why are you looking for him?" asked Yuma.

"Because since us three are the strongest duelists in Heartland City I wanted to challenge you and Reginald to a 2-on-1 duel. Yuma was a little disappointed, "so it's not just you and me then? It's all three of us?" "Uh FOUR if you count Astral," Tori said, Astral smiled at that remark. "Yuma," Kite told him, "trust me, you do not want to face me one-on-one at this condition, neither one of us are ready." Astral knew that Kite tossed a little lie in that statement but understood why. The whole city knew all about Kite's near-losses and that was a subject he didn't want to bring up.

"I'm leaving, Hart," Kite told his brother, "I'll be back later." He turned to Yuma and Tori, "make sure Reginald gets the message." "We will," Tori said as she elbowed Yuma, "RIGHT? Yuma?" The passionate duelist sighed, "yeah I guess, I'll see ya' Kite!" they all said their goodbyes as Kite watched Hart walk away with Yuma and the others. But before they could get any father, Kite heard a voice behind him.

"Kite Tenjo!"

Kite turned around and saw a young student that looked to be around Yuma's age with blond hair swooshed to the left and wearing the school's uniform. Kite just looked at him, he didn't know him but he know that this duelist knew him. He continued to glare at him with the same scowl, even though he didn't have his dark clothing he still looked pretty intimidating. "What do you want?" Kite demanded.

I've been hearing a lot about your little…well let's just call them 'close calls' and I couldn't help but wonder that it's only a matter of time before you quit the game all together."

"You-you can't say that to Master Kite, sh-show some respect! Claimed Orbital, Kite continued to glare at him, he knew where this conversation was going, "what's your name?"

"The name is Connor and I've come to challenge you to a duel to show all these kids here at Heartland Academy that you're old news, you're last year's golden boy, even Yuma has a much higher status than you."

Kite remembered what Dr. Faker told him earlier, he can't use his Photon Transformation should it be the reason of his pain the prior night. He chose to ignore it, "Let's go Orbital."

"Wow!" cried Connor, "you're even more pathetic than I thought!" The Galaxy-Eyes master turned his head to face Connor, the smug smirk on his face really had him boiling, "don't go there," he told him, "you don't know what I had to go through just to keep you and the rest of these duelists from losing their souls."

A crowd started to form around the two, this caught the attention of another group, "hey," cried out Tori, "what's going on over there?" Yuma and the other's followed the direction she was pointing at and ran towards it. Hart was with them, he was caught off guard when he saw his brother as the center of attention. "Kite…"

"If you're so tough then accept my challenge, Kite. Prove to me and everyone else here wrong."

"Ma-master Kite, D-Dr. Faker said-"

"I know what he said."

"Let's make this interesting;" called out Connor, "I'll put one of my best cards on the line for your…Galaxy-Eyes!"

"You can't do that!" yelled Yuma, "that's Kite's best card, don't do it!"

"This is MY duel, Yuma," Kite responded to him, "and I accept the stakes!" Orbital shot out a light-blue colored D-Pad with a red streak across it along with a matching D-Gazer. He kept those with him and would be fueled with the Photon energy whenever Kite used them but now they were just as regular as his opponent's. "Duel Disk GO! Duel Gazer Set!" both duelists prepared themselves and were now linked in the Dueling alternative reality. The crowd had on their D-Gazers and proceeded to watch the duel. "LET'S DUEL!"

Connor LP: 4000 Kite LP: 4000

"I'll go first!" Connor called out, "I summon Constellar Algiedi!" A silver knight-looking warrior appeared with a staff in hand, "and I activate it's special effect, when Algiedi is normal summoned, I can special summon another Constellar monster from my hand and I summon Constellar Sombre!" A ram-looking fairy appeared with what seemed like an illuminated tail. "Two level fours," Kite said quietly, "he's going for an XYZ summon." Connor spoke up, "judging from the look on your face I can tell you already know what's comin' next, don't ya' Kite? Well you're right 'cuz now I overlay my two level 4 light monsters so I could build the overlay network and XYZ Summon…Constellar Omega! I place one card face down and call it a turn."

Kite drew his first five cards, Photon Wind, Galaxy Zero, Galaxy Knight, Photon Shock, and Desperate Scrape. All of them dead draws. He didn't have any time to fix his deck, he was stuck in a duel where the odds were REALLY against him. He drew his sixth card and continued his turn, "I may not be able to top a turn like yours but I will get rid of your XYZ monster, I activate Desperate Scrape! By paying 800 of my life points I can make you Constellar Omega lose half it attack points!" (Kite LP: 3200)

"Well I activate Omega's special ability," Connor said, "by detaching one Overlay Unit I can have Omega be immune to all of you Spell and Trap cards for the rest if this turn!" Kite watched as the spell's effect went to waste as he looked at what could've been his plan, Omega would've been weak enough for the card Kite drew, Shining Angel, to attack and make the first strike. "Aww," taunted Connor, "did I ruin a strategy? Better luck next time!" He laughed as Kite growled under his breath, "I place a monster in defense-mode and one card face down, it's your move, Connor."

"As it should be, my draw!" he looked at the card he drew, "I summon Constellar Kaus!" Another centaur-looking monster appeared with a bow and arrow, "next I activate the Trap card Solar Ray! This card allows me to inflict 600 points of damage for every LIGHT monster on my side of the field, and since I control two, you take 1200 points of damage!" Kite flinched at the feeling of his life points decreasing. (Kite LP: 2600) "And now Constellar Kaus, attack the facedown!" Kaus attacked the facedown Shining Angel and destroyed it. "Next I-wait what is this?"

Kite caught him off-guard when he saw a new monster appearing on Kite's side of the field. Kite explained, "you destroyed my Shining Angel, and when it's destroyed in battle I can summon a LIGHT monster from my deck with 1500 attack points or less, and I summon Photon Circle." "I'm still gonna' attack it, Constellar Omega, attack Photon Circle!" (Kite LP: 1900) Photon Circle was destroyed but Kite barely had a scrape in life points, "what happened, you should've lost more than THAT!"

"That's because my Photon Circle has an effect where if he's destroyed then all battle damage I take is cut in half, which reminds me, I activate Photon Shock!"

Connor gasped, "a Trap card?"

"This Trap allows me to inflict the same amount of battle damage I took from a Photon monster's battle straight to you!"

(Connor LP: 3300)

"Alright then, I end."

"My move, I draw!" Kite looked at the card he drew and the duel was back to his favor again, "since I have no monsters on my field I can special summon Photon Thrasher from my hand." As the monster appeared Connor looked a little worried, "2100 attack points? That's a little much for a level four monster." "It's only going to get worse after this turn," Kite claimed, "now I activate the spell card Galaxy Zero! This lets me summon a Photon monster from my graveyard and with it I summon Photon Circle." The fallen Photon was now revived but looked rather binded. "What's up with him?" Asked Connor suspiciously, "Photon Circle was revived with Galaxy Zero, therefore he cannot attack or activate his effect, and if he would be destroyed then Zero takes the hit instead. Then, as the name suggests, Circle's attack points will drop down to zero, reviving his effect in the process."

Connor seemed confident, until he realized what he missed when witnessing the field, Kite has TWO level four monsters! "Well now," Kite taunted back, "judging from the look on YOUR face I can already tell you know what's coming next. I overlay my two level four Photon Monsters so I can build the overlay network and XYZ Summon…Starlord Galaxion!" A blue-lighted warrior appeared with two blades in his hands in a stance that looked like he was protecting Kite.

The crowd was amazed, the usually never see Kite summon an XYZ monster and this was one of those rare occasions. "Now I activate his special ability, by detaching both its Overlay Units I can summon from my deck, MY VERY SOUL!" The alternate reality showed a lightning storm with flashes of space. Starlord Galaxion put his two blades together in a prayer-like manner as the energy shot out from the blades to the skies. Down descended the very beast that would end this duel. "Come forth from the galaxies from above and ruler of the light, I summon Galaxy-Eyes Photon Dragon!"

Now the crowd was getting excited, witnessing this powerful dragon in action was a real sight to see. "Now it's time for you to feel some pain, Starlord Galaxion, attack his Kaus!" Galaxion attacked and destroyed Constellar Kaus (Connor LP: 3100) Connor waited for that dragon to take a hit on his life points, hoping that he would survive the blast.

"Galaxy-Eyes Photon Dragon, attack Omega! Photon Stream of Destruction!" Kite didn't feel like having his dragon absorb Constellar Omega's Overlay Units, instead he wanted to finish the duel while he still had the upper hand. But for how long?

Galaxy-Eyes blasted Constellar Omega as Connor's life points decreased. (Connor LP: 2500) "I end my turn," Kite said, he was getting stressed and exhausted. Then he started feeling dizzy, Yuma and Astral noticed this, "Hey! Hey Kite!" Yuma called, "you okay?"

"I'm fine. Don't worry about me."

Yuma was confused, how could Kite be struggling this much in a duel? He didn't use the Photon Transformation so his health wasn't the issue here. He hasn't seen Kite look this ill since he battled Vetrix. Hart was even more worried, "he's not fine!" he cried out, Astral looked at him, Yuma followed his gaze, "he's been in pain for who knows how long!" Yuma asked him, "Hart, is there anything we can do to help him?"

"He says he doesn't need help but I know that he does. There's something wrong with him and it's not because of the transformation, it's because of something else, and I don't know what that is.

The duel continued, Connor still had the most life points but Kite was the one with very few options, his fear of Kite's Galaxy-Eyes was slowly starting to fade, he wanted to take the easy way out so he aimed for the weaker monster. "It's my move and I draw." He looked at his hand and carefully played out the strategies in his head. "Alright here we go! I summon Constellar Pollux!" Another knight appeared with half of its body covered, "I activate his special effect, he allows me to summon another Constellar monster from my hand and I summon another Kaus!"

Kite knew that he wasn't going to summon the same XYZ monster again or any other XYZ for that matter; with Galaxy-Eyes Photon Dragon on the field no XYZ monster was safe. "Now I activate my Kaus' special ability," said Connor, "I can make one Constellar monster on my field boost its level up by 1 so now Kaus' level is now 5. What makes this effect so useful is that I can activate it AGAIN! Now my Pollux's level is 5."

Kite waited for inevitable, he was getting weaker and weaker as the turn went by. All the sweat and stress over his body made it very hard to concentrate on the duel at hand but he had to win, he barely survived the first turn and he didn't want it to go down in humiliation. He continued to wait as his opponent continued his turn, "now I overlay my two level five Constellars so I could build the overlay network…behold as I XYZ Summon Constellar Pleiades!" A new warrior emerged from what looked like a black galaxy hole from space, this one had gold and silver armor, similar to Utopia. "Now my ultimate monster," yelled Connor, "show them what you can do!" Pleiades went for a stance, "I activate his effect, by detaching one Overlay Unit I can send one of your monsters back up to your hand! So with that bein' said, Pleiades, send Galaxy-Eyes back to the hand and out of the way!"

Kite watched in horror as his most ultimate monster was sent back up to his hand, there was no way he could win the duel without him on the field. The dragon was back in Kite's hand and all he could do now was watch what Connor had in store for Starlord Galaxion. "If you thought that was bad," said Connor, "just wait until you see this, I overlay my Constellar Pleiades with the rest of its Overlay Units so I can XYZ Summon Constellar Ptolemy M7!" A new XYZ monster appeared, this one looked similar to the last one but Kite knew that this one probably had a worse effect.

"You're lucky," teased Connor, "I can't activate Ptolemy M7's effect this turn due to me summoning him this way. But I'm still gonna' attack, go destroy his Galaxion!" Kite's XYZ monster was now gone, his life points decreased even more. (Kite LP: 1200) "I end my turn, go ahead and try your luck, although I highly doubt it."

The older duelist managed to speak up through exhaustion, "you obviously have a powerful deck, why not just finish me off?"

"Because Kite, I'm proving my point. You're weak and frankly I'm enjoying this, humiliating you in front of the whole school where everyone can see you finally lose. But the fact of the matter is, is that you can barely fight back, and that just proves how pathetic you are. It's funny watching you struggle and sweat your ass off trying to prevent your loss when it's clear to me and everyone else here that there's no way you can make your way out of this duel victorious. Not even with luck."

Kite was too exhausted to insult him back, he was ready to pass out but his pride wouldn't let him. He knew that even if he didn't win he still had to show his brother's classmates that he CAN get out of the situation, victorious or not. "Kite!" yelled Hart, "just forfeit, you're sick and you can't continue! Please just stop!" Yuma started running up to his rival, "C'mon Kite, you gotta' stop this, you're in no position to duel-"

"Stay back!" yelled Kite, "I can handle this, just watch me!" now he was getting frustrated, his best monster was sitting in his hand, he drew the worst of cards in the first turn, his opponent wasn't taking him seriously, and now he was back to hoping for luck. Kite closed his eyes and wished as hard as he could. He hated easy losses and he hated his dueling skills, he was nothing more than a washed up player with dumb luck dependency. "I draw!" Kite opened his eyes and saw the card he drew, "I activate the spell Photon Sanctuary! This lets me summon two Photon Tokens, each with 2000 attack points, no defense points and they cannot attack, all at the cost of not being able to summon any other monsters for the rest of this turn, except LIGHT monsters."

"Defense…and no defense, this is just too easy!" taunted Connor, "you might as well give up, you can't win."

"What are you, Fortuno?"

Kite continued his turn, "since the tokens are considered Photons I'm allowed to summon Galaxy Knight from my hand with no tribute!" Connor saw the knight appear before him, "2800 attack points? Where do you get these high-attack cards?"

"Something you should know, my deck was created using special science from another dimension, THAT'S why."

"Your knight may have enough attack points to defeat my Ptolemy M7 but it won't finish me off."

"Funny, that's what the last guy I faced said…right before I finished him." Connor was shocked at that last remark but he didn't have time to think as Kite continued his turn. "Since my Galaxy Knight was summoned this way his effect kicks in, his attack points drop by 1000 so I could revive Galaxy-Eyes Photon Dragon from my graveyard."

"But he's not in the grave, remember? I sent him back up to your hand."

"Exactly, so you can go right ahead and thank yourself for th-GAHH!" Kite dropped his cards, the pain in his heart was back and pumping hard. "Kite!" yelled Hart, "Stop this duel!" yelled Rio, "NO!" Kite yelled back, "I'm gonna' finish this on my own," Kite picked up his cards and struggled back up to his feet still holding his heart, throbbing in pain. "I sacrifice both my Photon Tokens so I could summon back Galaxy-Eyes Photon Dragon!" the illuminated dragon reappeared with a roar…of pain? Kite noticed his dragon's roar wasn't like it's usual roar, it sounded like it was hurting. Kite picked up his head and saw his dragon, "what's wrong?" he asked but his question was answered when he saw his dragon change appearance. It looked weird, mechanical even, but purple and red in color. The pain in his heart faded but the crowd started to back away from Kite's side of the duel.

"Yuma!" Astral yelled, "Look at Kite; he has some strange aura surrounding him." Yuma looked at Kite and saw that there was a strange purple light around his body; he noticed his eyes were turning red. Meanwhile Kite saw his dragon in a different yet familiar form. "What is wrong with my dragon?!" he demanded, "what are you talkin' about? He's fine!" Connor called back, he was right, Galaxy-Eyes looked just as fine as he was before he was sent to Kite's hand. "That's NOT my dragon!" Kite yelled out in horror.

The pain resumed in Kite's heart and through his eyes, Galaxy-Eyes Photon Dragon was back to his regular form. He held onto his chest again and resumed his turn, "I need to finish before I collapse again, why was-"

"Hey, hurry up, I'm getting so impatient that I think I'll just finish you next turn."

"Alright then," Kite managed to say, ignoring the recent scare, "Galaxy knight, attack Ptolemy M7!" Everyone was shocked, "you DO know that he's weaker than my Ptolemy M7 right?!" Kite stayed silent as he watched his Galaxy Knight suicided into Connor's monster. (Kite LP: 300) "I activate the Quick-Play spell Photon Wind!" Kite proceeded to explain the effect, "when my monster attacked another monster you control and didn't destroy it, it inflicts 1000 points of damage to your life points and allows me to draw a card." (Connor LP: 1500)

Connor winced at the damage he took, "you got rid of him just for 1000 points of damage and a free card?" Kite ignored that rhetorical question, he was too focused on ending the duel as fast as possible and continued, "now for the final blow, Galaxy-Eyes Photon Dragon, attack Ptolemy M7!" The almighty dragon attacked until-"I activate my dragon's special ability, when he's facing another monster I can remove them both from the game until the end of the battle phase!" And with that, both monsters were banished. "But wait, there's more!" yelled Kite, from my hand I activate the effect of Dimension Wanderer! When a monster is banished by the effect of my Galaxy-Eyes I can send him to the graveyard so you can take 3000 points of damage!"

"WHAT?!" A blast of light that strongly resembled Galaxy-Eyes appeared and struck Connor along with his life points. "AAARRRRRRRRHHHHHHH!" he yelled out in pain and he fell on his back, thinking about his defeat.

(Connor LP:0) Winner: Kite

The victorious duelist collapsed while the crowd started to surround both players. "Ma-master Kite!" cried out Orbital, he looked to a worried Hart, "I'll ta-take him back to the l-lab, you head back t-to school."

"No!" protested Hart, "I'm going with him!"

"Hart," said a very weak Kite, "go to school…I'll be fine." Kite finally passed out and left his friends and brother back to their planned day. Orbital changed to his glider form and picked up Kite. Together they flew back to the lab.


	3. Chapter 3

I own nothing. Enjoy!

Chapter 3: Anxiety

"How is he, D-Dr. Faker?"

"For some reason there isn't anything wrong with him. The test results say that he should be alright but all I see is a worn-out corpse."

Dr. Faker and Orbital 7 saw Kite on the medical bed in the room, they were very concerned about the state that he was in. The last duel was not only a simple near-defeat victory but it took out so much energy that he had Orbital fly him home for treatment. "L-last time he was like this," said Orbital, "he was fighting for Hart in the Transformation, b-but right now he has no reason to fight."

Faker turned to the robot, "I told him NOT to use the Photon Transformation!"

"He-he didn't, he dueled without it. I have wi-witnesses!"

"Well then if it's not that then what is it?!"

They both heard steps behind them, when they turned around they saw the young Hart standing at the lab's doorway with his eyes facing the floor. "Hart?" asked Faker, "is there something wrong?"

"Kite screamed again today," he ominously said, "like…he saw a ghost."

"What are you talking about? There's no such THINGS as ghosts."

"What about Astral?" Faker glared back at Orbital who immediately stopped before he started rambling on. He turned back to his son and waited for his response. "The scream and the expression I saw on his face were exactly the same ones from the other night when he passed out in the bathroom floor."

"What do you mean? Is there something you both aren't telling me?" Faker switched glances at both Orbital and Hart until they confessed. "When he dueled earlier, he was having a hard time…but when he summoned Galaxy-Eyes Photon Dragon he…he said that it wasn't his dragon." Dr. Faker was confused, "not his dragon? What does that mean? I made his deck, that dragon included, what was going on when he said that? There isn't a single person in dueling history to come out of a duel victorious in THIS condition," Faker pointed at the weak and exhausted Kite.

"What could he have seen that made him think it wasn't Galaxy-Eyes?" he thought for a bit, "Orbital," he ordered, "bring me Kite's deck, I want to study it." The robot obeyed his orders and rolled off. "and you, Hart," he told him, "I want you to tell me everything that happened in that duel, every single detail."

Orbital returned with his master's deck. Hart just finished explaining the aforementioned duel and then proceeded to give Dr. Faker a card, "Kite won this," he said, "when he beat Connor he left, Connor felt bad about the condition he was in so he kept his end of the deal and gave me this during Duel Period." The doctor took the card and added it to his other son's deck and shuffled it. He drew the first six cards and to his shock he saw the worst hand ever, Photon Veil, Photon Trident, Photon Current, Photon Satellite, Galaxy Expedition and Galaxy Knight.

"This is an insult!" he thought to himself, "I made this, I gave it to him, HOW did it become this way?" he turned to Hart and Orbital, "looking at this first set I can already feel the stress taking over and if that's what's making Kite this way then it's time he got an upgrade. I will have my best men work on it. But first, I have to make a few important calls."

Kite was sound asleep, his body ached. Despite his slumber he could still see the images flashing before him. The past few duels he was challenged to, the strikes he had to endure, the reputation he made for himself. He didn't want to lose, he has in the past and he took it well, but losing easily can break any duelist's spirit. Now he didn't even want to lose at all. And the taunts. The mockery his opponents made, it was all the more reason for Kite to strike back with all his might. He was once-feared and eventually well-respected, now he was nothing more than an easy target and laughingstock.

The images soon changed to the duel he had with Connor. The horrible opening hand aggravated him and the way he played gave away what he didn't want to become. He saw Galaxy-Eyes Photon Dragon being summoned to the field…and change! Kite looked over at what his dragon was becoming, his eyes stayed the same but the rest of Galaxy-Eyes' body transformed, the blue illuminating scales became purple with a crimson red aura. Galaxy-Eyes was looking more machine than dragon, in fact Kite recognized it just as he did when the duel was on. The name brought anger and a deep hatred to his soul. He was right, it wasn't HIS dragon. Suddenly, this new dragon turned to Kite and roared as the whole surrounding became pitch-black. As soon as his sight was clouded in darkness he saw the number 107 flash before him.

Kite woke up in a cold sweat; he saw that he was on the medical bed in the lab. He heard something, "what's that?" he said to himself as he got up and walked to the noise. He heard explosions and roaring among others. "The simulation room," Kite said to himself, "that's where the noise was coming from!" he ran to the room thinking that something was wrong but the doors were locked. "I must get to the control room," and with that he ran to his destination. He arrived just in time to see Dr. Faker and Orbital 7 looking below to the simulation duel in the process.

"I think it's gotten better, we still need to test out more strategies."

"Agreed. W-we should also try te-testing out th-MASTER KITE!"

Dr. Faker turned around and saw his oldest son standing in the doorway, "Kite! What are you doing here? You should be resting!"

"Is that my deck?" Kite asked, ignoring the doctor's demands, "what is it doing here?"

"I'm aware of your troubles so I've taken it upon myself to try and fix it. I have added more cards that haven't been played in a while and some support for your dragon."

Kite looked up, "which dragon?"

Faker looked at him confused, "why, yours of course, Galaxy-Eyes Photon Dragon. And speaking of him, I managed to retrieve two extra copies in order to balance it out."

"Why would you put three in my deck? I can do just fine with the one I have."

"That may be true but if you'll excuse my 'blast of your past' you've barely been able to summon him. And besides, I did some research and found out about a duelist named Seto Kaiba who once had three copies of his most powerful monster in his deck. I went with the idea and so far it seems to be doing rather excellent." Kite walked past them and headed toward the window to see three Galaxy-Eyes Photon Dragons facing Darkness Neosphere. The three were overlayed and XYZ Summoned Neo Galaxy-Eyes Photon Dragon. Kite saw his ultimate monstyer attack the fiend and dropped the simulator's life points to 0. Through his scowl he was very impressed, if getting all three dragons to be summoned was easy for a simulator then he should be more than capable of doing the same.

The duel was over and an alarm went off to signal that the duel simulation was over. Kite ran out of the control room and went down to the simulator room to retrieve his deck. He quickly looked through it and noticed the Constellar Omega, he put two and two together and realized why it was there. He left the lab and headed to his room. On the way there he bumped into a familiar face. It didn't take long for the Photon duelist to recognize the fiery red hair.

"Nistro."

"Kite! Are you alrigh? We came over as soon as we got word from Yuma an-"

"I'm fine," he told him, Kite wasn't exactly a Nistro kind of person, he usually found him annoying so he always avoided him, "wait, who's 'we'?"

"Kite?"

Both he and Nistro turned to see Dextra standing not far from them. Her purple hair still over her face but she softly tucked some streaks behind her ears for the two of them to see her face clearly.

"Dextra."

"We came to see if you were alright."

"I am, don't worry about me."

"Don't worry about you?!" Nistro yelled, "you've been saying that since the World Duel Carnival!"

"Nistro, d-" Dextra tried to interrupt him before he said something he would regret but the passionate duelist ignored her.

"You got hurt in a school-ground duel. How the Hell does THAT happen?! This isn't the Carnival or the Barians this is your life Kite, something like this doesn't just happen much less to anybody!"

Kite just scowled at him, the same one he always gave him way back when they were working for Mr. Heartland's Number hunting agenda. "How could you say that to us? We've been-"

"M-Master Kite!" Orbital interrupted Nistro's rant, "you have a call fr-from the Kastle residence."

"Well it looks like Yuma's big mouth made it all the way to Shark's, how quaint," said a sarcastic Kite but to his shock, and especially Dextra's, it wasn't the Kastle he was expecting.

"Rio?"

The Ice Queen herself appeared on the screen Orbital projected, she had a look of worry, Kite knew what she was going to ask. "Kite?" she asked, she was intentionally going to ask him if he was alright but before she could continue before Kite even had the chance to interrupt her and repeat what he just said to Dextra moments ago, Rio interrupted herself with a different question.

"Who's that?" she pointed to Dextra who was standing behind the Photon Duelist.

"Kite," Dextra asked as well, "who is that?"

"Whoa, Kite," Nistro whistled as he caught a glimpse of Rio, "is that your new girlfriend?"

"Would everyone just shut up?!" Kite was getting annoyed, this couldn't be good for his stress, so he answered every ones questions by facing the answer's respective questioners. He turned to Rio first, "this is Dextra she's an old colleague of mine…oh and that's Nistro, don't worry about him, he's not important."

"HEY!"

"Also, I'm fine, I'm still walking on two legs so don't go planning my funeral just yet." He turned to Dextra and pointed back at the screen, "that's Rio Kastle, Shark's sister and another one of Yuma's friends, I don't know why she's the only one calling me," he then turned back to face Rio who was looking confused as ever, "but should I be expecting any more calls from the others?!" Rio shook her head, "I already told Reginald about today, he hopes you get better, but from the looks of it I'd say you made a full recovery." Kite ignored her as he faced Nistro.

"I think I just answered YOUR question." Nistro was dumbfounded, "what does that mean?" Kite was ignoring him, he was already leaving them in the hallway. Dextra turned back to the screen facing Rio. The Kastle sister giggled, she smiled and waved goodbye as the screen blacked out. Dextra narrowed her eyes, "that smuggy, immature little-"

"Ahh, Dextra and Nistro, you made it!" Dr. Faker greeted as he walked towards the two, "I need your help, well actually, Kite needs your help." Dextra and Nistro were confused, why would Kite of all people need any kind of help, especially from them? He didn't need their help back then. "I'll make this quick and very brief, you see…"

Kite entered his room, he looked around as the memories of the previous night came back to him. He could almost feel the pain again. He walked into the restroom and looked in the mirror, fortunately for him there was no number on his heart. "That reminds me," he said, he walked to an area in his room to find an inward-folded handle on the floor. Kite pulled it up and opened the little door. Inside he found a metal box wrapped in chains and secured with a lock. He unlocked it and removed the chain. Kite opened the box to reveal the very thing that's been haunting his mind. For the first time since Misael's defeat he was finally staring deeply at the card known as Number 107 Galaxy-Eyes Tachyon Dragon.

A/N: The part with Kite, Dextra, Nistro and Rio was meant to be humorous just to mellow out all the seriousness. Also I've noticed a few pairings of Kite and Rio, I must admit, it COULD work out, so I decided to 'introduce' Rio to Dextra and see where it goes. I know this chapter is pretty short but it's all I have for now. Chapter 4 will be up soon!


	4. Chapter 4

A/N: Sorry I took so long, I've been working a lot and it's really getting to me. But enough about me let's get started. Just a heads-up, yes I'm aware of the change of letter in Mizael's name with the 'Z' so I will change it starting now. Here's chapter 4…oh yeah, and enjoy!

Chapter 4: Light at the End

Kite stared at it, Number 107: Galaxy-Eyes Tachyon Dragon. The very card that Kite had the hardest time of his life facing. Since the first time he faced Mizael he knew that his rivalry with Yuma would have to wait until his new target was defeated. Kite faced Mizael for the first time and it ended in a no contest. The second time they crossed paths ended with the same result. The Photon duelist was growing impatient by the day because they both talked so much about who was the real Galaxy-Eyes Master when the end results were the same. Kite's pride wouldn't let him give up, that's when he met Jinlong who trained him to become stronger for the next time he would face the Barian. It wasn't long until Mizael arrived and was quick to challenge the 'Dragon Master' but that would-be battle ended before it even started.

At long last the two finally faced each other in the duel they've been waiting for. Kite and Mizael went back and forth but in the end the victorious one became Kite. He proved his friends, the Barians, especially Mizael that he is the only Galaxy-Eyes Master and that he is more than eligible to possess both dragons. Kite won the Number card and because it was over 100 Astral didn't need it, it wasn't part of his memories. Kite kept it for himself as a reminder of what he earned. Yet for some reason he never used it, he just locked it in a box and put it away. Everyone remembered him keeping it but never asked if he still had it.

Since then he's been avoiding it, seeing as how it was a Number card, despite Mizael being a human again, he shouldn't risk it, he didn't want to be possessed. There were times where Kite found himself wanting to use Number 107 but he quickly forced those thoughts out of his head. Soon after, he too started to forget about the card. Believing it to be evil, he never went near it for a long time, in fact he didn't start to remember it until…

"That's it!" Kite realized, tossing the card back into the box it came from, "you're trying to get ahold of me, I won't let you!" He closed the box and wrapped the chains around it, finally putting it back. Those thoughts came back in his head followed by a voice, an unfamiliar one at that, who was talking to him, "_you cannot escape_…"

"Who's there?!"

"_The hold…you cannot escape_…"

Kite looked around his room, there was nobody there, "_the hold, you cannot escape_…" a rattle was heard, it came from where Number 107 was in! The little door started to shake, Kite just stared at it trying hard not to show any fear. The voice kept speaking ominously, the door kept shaking and everything started to go dark. The ominous sounds kept getting louder and he couldn't take it anymore, it was too much that Kite passed out again.

"Kite? Kite! Wake up."

Kite opened his eyes, "Hart?" There was his younger brother kneeling over him with a worried look, "did you pass out again?"

"Uh, eh, no Hart," he lied.

"Good, because now that you're up _you can now let the Number take hold_!" Kite saw what he thought was his brother transform into the dragon he locked away. "What have you done to HART?!" he demanded but the only answer he got was more ominous laughter as the dragon's number started to glow so bright that it blinded Kite. "UURRRGGGHHHHHH!" he grunted as he shielded his eyes then he started to feel the pain in his heart again.

Kite opened his eyes, the pain was gone. He breathed heavily, "what happened?" he looked around, everything looked pretty normal. He turned to the secret doorway in the floor, no rattling nor did he hear any voices. "what is wrong with me?"

"Kite!"

The Photon duelist was a little startled at the sound of Dr. Faker's voice in the intercom, "Please report back to the simulation room, it's important."

"What does he want? Whatever it is it's better than staying in this room for so long." He left and headed to the simulation room, "I defeated Mizael," he thought, "why is the Number card still haunting me? I'm the Galaxy-Eyes Master, so why is it trying to get ahold of me?" Kite turned a corner and proceeded to head to his destination, "Mizael is human now and his Barian spirit is gone. Isn't it?"

He made his way in the room to find both Dextra and Nistro standing on both sides of a sitting Dr. Faker. "I'm here," he said, "what's so important?" The doctor stood up, "Kite, you're my son and I'm willing to do whatever it takes to help you so I've called up Nistro and Dextra here for good measure, I take it that your reunion wasn't." Kite couldn't help but smirk at that remark, he did in fact respect both his former comrades, but to him it was a waste to pass up an opportunity to get Nistro all riled up, especially in front of Dextra.

"I've managed to convince them to help you out so that your duels can be more consistent and not in aggravation in dead draws. Nistro? Dextra?"

The latter stepped up first, "I remember when you faced Yuma at the World Duel Carnival," Dextra told him, "I remember how you were practically a zombie for the majority of it. After hearing about the situation, I'll admit, I started to worry about you again but I know for a fact that you can handle things your way. We're not children anymore Kite but still I wish to help you any way that I can. I failed you back when I faced Vetrix but now I hope to make up for that." She held out a card face-down.

Kite thought about rejecting the offer but he realized that he'd be worse than Byron was as Vetrix. He remembered telling Yuma after hearing the news about Dextra's loss that he didn't care. He started feeling guilty about a lot of things and that was one of them. He gradually accepted the card and turned it over, it was Photon Papilloperative. He nodded to her, his way of saying 'thank you.'

It was Nistro's turn to step up, "well you still owe me a duel," he started, "I don't like facing weak duelists and I hope that you are anything but. Just like Yuma I want to face you at your strongest so I'm willing to help you out here. The game seems to be changing and according to the doctor here there are a few players who are quitting because they can't keep up and I see that as a pitiful excuse to quit. This is why my soul can never give up on anything, not dueling, not my career and not even life. Take this card Kite and I'll see you in the dueling battle field." He too held out a face-down card. As much as Kite didn't want to admit it, Nistro was right. He wasn't going to let a few near-losses or ANY losses get in his way of dueling, not even some Barian's spirit…

Kite took the card and flipped it over, Photon Strike Bounzer. He also nodded 'thanks' to Nistro and he did the same. Dr. Faker began to speak, "I hope after this you'll realize that losing, even easily is not the end of the world. I hope you will understand that." Kite nodded to his father, "good, now go get your brother it's almost time for school."

"What? It's nighttime. Shouldn't he be in bed?"

"Kite, it's morning, were you sleeping all day and all night?"

That's when he realized that Faker was right, he assumed he passed out after that whole hallucination scare. "it took us nearly the whole night to come up with this plan," Nistro told him. He ran out of the simulation room and went looking for Hart. He remembered Hart in his nightmare hallucination, watching in horror as his brother turned into Number 107. Kite ran to Hart's room and saw the younger Tenjo already prepared, "I'm ready Kite, let's go." Orbital 7 came rolling in and followed both boys outside. He transformed into his motorcycle mode and they were on their way.

At the school the students met up with their groups of friends. One group in particular was looking quite disgruntled while another group was minding their own business. The trio arrived and were greeted by their affiliated group. Hey guys!" Yuma called out to them, Tori waved to Hart and Orbital but to everyone's shocking surprise Rio ran up to Kite and hugged him. The Photon duelist blushed, too nervous to even do anything and right away became embarrassed when he noticed everyone was looking at them. "R-Rio?" he asked, Rio let go of the embrace, "what?" she asked him back, "can't a girl hug her friend?" As if he were on cue, Shark appeared out of nowhere with an even bigger shocked look on his face.

"Since when were you and Kite-"

"Well look who decided to meet his friends at school, on time no less!" Rio interrupted him. Shark had nothing to say to that because his sister caught him off guard. Realizing that he was no longer the center of everyone's attention, Kite turned to Yuma and Astral, I need to talk to you both. He led them a few steps from the quarreling twins and the rest of their group, "when people were possessed by the Numbers, did they have any 'visions' or anything?" Yuma thought about it but Astral was the one who spoke out, "you mean a door of sorts? And I suppose there was a voice as far as I can tell.

"AWW that's what I was gonna' say!" Yuma yelled out to his floating friend, he turned back to Kite, "but yeah, he's right."

"What do you mean?"

"Well, when I received Number 39: Utopia I found myself constantly having these dreams where I was running towards a door. There I heard a voicetelling me something about unlocking power for a Number. That's all I can remember." Shark walked up to them, "what's this I'm hearing about the Numbers?" "Shark," Yuma started, "you've been possessed by Numbers before, did you have any visions during?" The water duelist turned to Kite, "all I felt was pain, which reminds me, how's the pain in your heart?" Kite knew he was being sarcastic as always but he merely shrugged it off, "I'm fine, listen, when you were under a Number's influence, did you at all hallucinate?" Shark remembered that one time with Number 17: Leviathan Dragon. "I heard some voice telling me to 'let the Number take hold." Yuma spoke up again, "why do you wanna' know, Kite?"

"It's best that I gather every detail of Number possession that way we can be alert, keep in mind, we haven't gotten all of them yet and a new Number card has yet to appear." He turned to his brother, "I'll pick you up later, Hart, be good in school."

"Kite, wait, there's something I have for you." Kite looked at Hart's hard and held out a card face-down. Kite looked at it, Hieratic Sun Dragon Overlord of Heliopolis, "Hart, this is YOUR card, I can't take this."

"No, I insist, please take it." Hart pushed the card back in Kite's chest, he wasn't taking 'no' for an answer. "Alright, I'll take it, if you really think I need it."

"It will help you, trust me." They were interrupted when a familiar voice boomed from behind them. The group turned round and saw another group of duelists with discouraged looks being led by two other duelists in white.

"Connor."

"Hello Kite, miss me?"

"It's only been a day, what do you want?"

"Oh it's not what I want, it's what _he _wants." Connor pointed to the other duelist walking alongside him, he had on a white shirt with an angel wing on the chest, white pants with a greyish-blue line striped down the legs and a white leather jacket. His hair was blond and was combed to the left side. "Kite," spoke Connor, "meet Skye, my older brother."

The Photon duelist wanted to laugh, was Connor really that much of a sore loser that he had to send his big brother to clean up his mess? Kite rolledis eyes and proceeded to walk towards Orbital but the other two brother's weren't letting him, "I heard you took my brother XYZ monster."

Kite turned around and stared at Skye's face, "I didn't _take it_ I won it, he put it on the line when we dueled and I beat him, he lost the card to me and here we are, simple as that."

"Well, seeing as how you're in a very cocky mood what do you say for a quick duel? I promise you it will only take a turn."

Kite looked over Skye one more time and noticed what was so off about him, "you don't have on a school uniform so I take it you don't go to school here. Which brings up the question, 'did you really come all the way over here just to duel me?' Or is there something else to it?"

Skye's gaze pointed at the card Kite was holding, "that card, put it on the line against me and I'll put up my ace, in fact, I'll put up all _three_ of my aces for that one card in your hand just to sweeten the deal."

Hart was worried, he just gave him that card, if Kite lost it in the duel then he wouldn't get the help he needed. Kite assured him that he wouldn't lose, this time his deck was prepared, he was ready. "Orbital," Kite turned to the robot but the bot was way ahead of him, "yes Master K-Kite!" and he tossed out his master's duel disk.

Everyone started gathering around, Hart wanted to get Kite out of the situation but everyone held him back, all he could do was watch and hope everything would be okay. "Duel Disk set!" yelled Skye as his D-Pad started to resemble an angel's wing, he pulled out his yellow D-Gazer, "Duel Gazer ready!"

"Go Photon Transformation!" Kite's attire changed from black and white to all white with a few illuminated blue glows along with his blue D-Gazer tattoo.

"I really hope Kite knows what he's doing," Yuma said to Astral, "you know, Yuma," Astral replied, "for his sake, I hope so too."

"Ready Kite?" Skye asked him in a devious way but Kite ignored him, "I'll go first," and Kite proceeded with the first move.

Kite LP: 4000

Skye LP: 4000

"I draw!" Kite saw the cards he drew, a very good hand, not a single dead draw. "First off, since I have no monsters on my field I can Special Summon Photon Thrasher from my hand!" His monster appeared with the blue lights around his body, Kite's body lighted up as well, "next I summon Photon Crusher!" Another warrior appeared next to Thrasher, this one looked very similar to him yet different. Kite continued his turn, "now I overlay my two lever four Photon Monsters so I can build the overlay network and XYZ Summon Starlord Galaxion!"

Everyone looked at the illuminated warrior, it looked so majestic. "The fun's not over yet, I activate his effect, by detaching two overlay units I can summon Galaxy-Eyes Photon Dragon from my deck." Out came the very dragon that protected Kite from many battles in the past and now he was going to fulfill that promise again. "Next I activate the spell card Galaxy Expedition, this allows me to summon a level five of higher Photon or Galaxy monster from my deck as long as I have a level five or higher Photon or Galaxy monster. If you think one Galaxy-Eyes Photon Dragon is bad then why not go for TWO!" A second dragon appeared and roared alongside its twin.

"All right Kite!" cheered Yuma.

"Amazing, he managed to summon two Galaxy-Eyes Photon Dragons in a single turn. This is truly a sight to see."

"I can't believe it! He actually did all this in one turn," said Rio.

"Yeah, neither can I," replied an actually impressed Shark.

"I place one card face-down and I end my turn." Kite went over his strategy; he had his two dragons out with another monster with enough attack points to defend itself for at least a turn and his set Battle Simulation to prove that theory.

He watched as Skye drew his cards, "it's my turn and I draw!" he looked at his cards and quickly went over his strategy, now he knew what to do. "Kite, just a heads up."

"Whatever it is it will have to wait, I have a duel to win."

"Yes and that's very farfetched theory but it's imperative you must know."

Kite was getting annoyed, "fine, what is it?"

"Well it's not that big a deal but for what it's worth, I don't use XYZ monsters."

Kite really didn't care for that and once again he ignored the remark, "would you just make your move already?!" Skye smirked, "as you wish, first off I activate the spell Card Destruction, this card makes us send our entire hand to the graveyard and then we can draw the same amount of cards that were discarded." Kite couldn't believe it, but at the same time he was a little relieved, at least now he had two new cards to use. The only thing that kept him calm was his field presence. He saw the two cards he drew, Galaxy Wizard and another Galaxy Expedition; he was going to win this.

"Next," continued Skye, "I activate Charge of the Light Brigade. This card allows me to add a level four or lower Lightsworn monster from my deck to my hand and I choose Lumina, Lightsworn Summoner." Skye added said card to his hand and continued his turn, "oh yeah I forgot to mention, because I did this I now have to send the top three cards from my deck to the graveyard."

"WHAT?!" everyone yelled.

"Why is he doing that?" asked Yuma, "that's too much of a cost for adding a card to your hand."

"He has a strategy, Yuma," Astral told him, "somehow I don't think Skye is dueling recklessly."

Everyone watched as Skye picked up the top three cards from his deck and send them to the graveyard as if it were no big deal. "Next," Skye continued, "I activate the spell card Solar Recharge, this spell allows me to send Lumina, Lightsworn Summoner from my hand to the graveyard and draw two cards. And it also sends the top two cards from my deck to the graveyard." He proceeded to send more cards to his graveyard.

"What's his strategy?" Kite thought, "he can't be sending cards to the graveyard like it's no big deal." Everyone wondered the same thing but Connor knew what was going to happen. "I activate another Solar Recharge, and with it I send away Ryko, Lightsworn Hunter so I draw two cards and-"

"-send the top two cards from the deck to the graveyard." Kite said unenthusiastically, "Yeah," jeered Skye, "now you're getting' it!"

"Is his turn ever going to end?" Kite thought to himself.

"Now I activate Foolish Burial, this lets me send a monster from my deck to the graveyard; I think I'll send away Celestia, Lightsworn Angel."

"He's doing it again, Astral," Yuma stated, "what if Kite does lose? Skye's turn is still going." Astral couldn't say anything he was too absorbed in the duel that he feared for Kite.

"I activate the spell Magical Stone of Excavation, this allows me to send two cards from my hand and not the deck, sorry Kite, to the graveyard and add a spell card that's already in the graveyard to my hand. I'm getting back Foolish Burial and I'm activating it again! This time I'm sending away Lyla, Lightsworn Sorceress."

Kite was starting to get nervous, whatever his strategy was it was involving cards being sent to the graveyard like there's no tomorrow, and if he learned anything from Chris it was to keep an open eye even on the most bizzarest of strategies because with the way Skye was dueling he only knew something big was coming and Kite wanted to defeat it on his own.

"Be patient, Kite," Skye taunted him, he glanced over at Connor and nodded his head and turned back to the duel, "my turn is almost over…and so is this duel! I activate the spell Monster Reincarnation, with this spell I can send a card from my hand to the graveyard and in exchange I can add a monster from the graveyard back to my hand. So I'll send away Wulf, Lightsworn Beast and add…this card back to my hand. Now if I can have everyone's attention please?!"

The crowd of students opened their ears and eyes as to what Skye was about to announce, "this duel is over and I can prove it to you all. Look at my graveyard, Kite; I have so many monsters in there. Ryko, Lumina, Wulf, Celestia, and Lyla among others."

"You have most of your deck's monster population in your graveyard, I wouldn't exactly call that an accomplishment to be proud of."

"Oh but it is. Since I have at least four or more Lightsworn monsters with different names in my graveyard I can summon my ultimate dragon, with the power of judgment and light I summon Judgment Dragon!" A giant greyish-blue dragon appeared with wings and light shining around it. It was almost as big as Galaxy-Eyes Photon Dragon and it even rivaled his attack points.

"Come on," Kite said to him, "I'm ready for you!"

"With pleasure!" Skye replied, "I activate my Judgment Dragon's special ability, by giving up 1000 of my life points I can destroy ALL CARDS on the field while my dragon stays unharmed!"

Kite gasped, "But…then that means…that-"

"That's right, Kite!" jeered Connor from the sidelines, "you're DEFENSELESS!"

Skye LP: 3000

Everyone, especially Hart witnessed as Judgment Dragon blasted Kite's entire field clean. Galaxy-Eyes was destroyed, both of them to be exact, and it was only the first turn! "If I may quote you for a moment, Kite," said Skye, "if you thought ONE was bad well then…"

Sky didn't even finish that sentence, instead, to everyone's utter shock, he summoned _another_ Judgment Dragon. Both of them roared and locked eyes with Kite. He just stood there, no words, no moves, no cards to defend him, what could he do?

"Now, Judgment Dragon number one," called out Skye, "attack Kite directly!" The dragon went for Kite, he saw him coming but did nothing except take the hit.

Kite LP: 1000

Kite fell and landed on his back, he tried getting up but what was the point? Regardless he managed to stand up only for something much worse. "Now Judgment Dragon number two, finish this duel and grant me victory!" Skye watched as his second dragon attack the Photon duelist and slammed him back on his back watching his life points drop.

Kite LP: 0

The duel was over and the alternate reality link was disconnected. The students were quiet, the two opponents were quiet. There was nothing left but the image of what just transpired sinking in to everyone's psyche. Many have witnessed this happen before back at the World Duel Carnival while others only heard of someone winning on the first turn. But no one ever thought that they would get to see it actually happen, ever. The truth remained but the aftermath was anyone's guess, how DOES a duelist recover from a one-turn loss? If you ask any duelist they'll tell you the same thing, it happened and it shouldn't affect you but try telling that to a Barian. The truth is solid because for the first time in a very long time, Kite Tenjo, Galaxy-Eyes Master, lost.

To Be Continued…

A/N: Before anyone says anything let me just say that yes, I am aware that the ending of this chapter sounds very similar to the ending of "Casey at the Bat." In fact I didn't even realize that until after I finished but let's be serious for a second, you have to admit, it _does_ fit the tone here. Moving on, hope you enjoyed this and I'll try to update quicker. R&R. Until next time!


	5. Chapter 5

**Thank you all for the reviews! Just a heads-up, there will be some curse words here and there and the tone will be taken a little more serious, hope it doesn't ruin the story for you all. I still own nothing, enjoy!**

**Chapter 5: Tachyon Nightmare**

"I'm sorry, kids," Dr. Faker told Yuma and his friends, except Shark, who said he would see Kite later on, "but Kite's taking this loss a little too hard, I'll have Hart let him know you were here." They disappointingly walked away, Rio walked up to Yuma, "Yuma," she said, "do you think Kite will get past this?"

"I know he will, Rio," he assured her, "he's one of the best duelists I've ever known, he's not gonna' let one single loss get in his way, look at me, I lose all the time but that didn't stop me from becoming Duel Champion!"

"Yeah, with Astral's help!" Tori pointed out while everyone laughed.

"Oh no, Tori!" Yuma shrieked, "I think I'm bein' possessed by…ALIT!"

"Yuma, that's not funny!"

"Come say that to my face while I'm kissing it!" Yuma started to chase her and they ran ahead of the others, "punch, knock, kick, I'm Alit!" Rio giggled at the sight, she turned around and glanced back at the Tower once more, "be good, Kite, you're stronger than this."

Kite was a little worn out, not enough to be sleeping but enough to just be still and emotionless, staring at his deck he held out in front of him. Sitting against his bedroom door, he remembered what transpired, he lost a duel in one turn, what's worse is that he lost Hart's card to Skye. Skye, Judgement Dragon, Connor, they planned this all along, "Connor," Kite thought, "how pathetic." Clenching his fists he started to remember every detail, the four dragons facing each other but only two were left standing and in that same turn attacked him. That loss shouldn't have been a big deal but it was the first turn. That wasn't a loss that was humiliation.

The aftermath when it ended, he could re-imagine it all without missing a single detail. Kite wasn't completely knocked out from the attacks but he still felt the impacts, he was conscious enough to hear the students' whispers concerning his state, Hart's shuddering, Yuma and Shark's footsteps running towards him, and possibly witnessing Rio's worried expression. He heard the bell ring and the students slowly started to head to class, Connor, Skye and their crew were already long gone. It was very quiet for the most part, no one dared to say anything but whatever they wanted to say, they were thinking it. Orbital was picking up his master's cards while Kite's attire changed back. When the school ground was deserted Kite took his deck, put it in his left deck box and left, not saying a word, Hart and the rest looked on as he did. When he got home, he went straight to his room and locked the door.

Now here he was, alone in his room, beating himself up, thinking he was too incompetent to handle what happened today. "I used to be everyone's worst nightmare! I was the taker of souls! Now I'm a pathetic coward hiding behind a closed door," he said to himself, he remembered the look Skye had when he was sure he would be granted the win and Connor's jeering when Kite was left defenseless. "What is wrong with me!" and in a fit of rage, he threw his deck across the room, cards splattered all over.

Just then, _it_ was happening again, darkness was clouding the Photon Duelist, the pain in his heart returned, he was seeing the number 107 _everywhere._ He heard loud rattling, the little door started shaking! Louder and louder and harder and harder everything was too much to handle! Kite winced at everything that was going on, he held on to his heart, the pain was getting too excruciating. He punched the floor in anger and expected the pain to be less painful but to no avail.

The voices returned, "_Let the Number take hold…"_

"NO!"

"…_the Number…_"

"I won't let you!"

"…_the Number take hold…"_

"SHUT UP!"

"_Power…Victory…_"

"AAAAAGGGGGGHH!" Kite screamed until he finally passed out once again. The pain proved too much to him as it went beyond his limits. Kite hit the floor as the little door burst open and a purple and crimson red cloud appeared from it. It slowly made its way to Kite's worn-out body and into his heart leaving only the number 107 flashing in a struggle.

Inside the duelist's soul, the cloud changed into its true form, Number 107: Galaxy-Eyes Tachyon Dragon. It walked around the soul, it was dark, looked practically deserted. Number 107 continued walking until in the far distance he saw a small light, he followed it. After a while, Number 107 was close enough to see what the light was, Kite himself! There was Kite, his dueling spirit, floating in a blue aura with his eyes closed, he looked peaceful.

Number 107 had reached his destination and proceeded to get closer until he heard barking. He turned around and saw a three-headed monster with blue scaly lights running towards him. Photon Cerberus. Cerberus ran towards Number 107 and jumped to its face but the poor monster received a blast from the dragon, destroying it in the process. Before Number 107 could turn around, he was attacked by two Photon Sabre Tigers! While they made the dragon struggle they proved no match for the Number and were obliterated in seconds. Number 107 got no rest as two more monsters came roaring from the sky, Photon Wyvern and Photon Leo! The dragon flew up to them and proceeded to battle. The two winged Photon monsters tried their best but their destruction was inevitable. Number 107 landed only to come face-to-face with more of Kite's Photon Monsters. Two Delta Wings, Circle, Pirate, and the rest were all destroyed, nothing was left. Number 107 roared and out of nowhere appeared Galaxy Wizard. The Number raised its right arm to strike the Spellcaster but Wizard disappeared before he could do so and Galaxy Knight appeared in its place.

The two fought and despite the Number being more powerful, Knight kept his ground using his sword to dodge the Tachyon blasts. Knight struck it with his sword across the dragon's head where the number was on, it roared in pain. Through its own rage, the Number lost control of its anger and grabbed the knight and tossed him in the air where it would meet another blast. It seemed as though no other monsters would interrupt him so he quickly dragged himself to Kite's spirit. To his expectancy, he was blinded by two new monsters guarding the spirit, Photon Thrasher and Photon Crusher. The two stood side by side and in their battle positions ready to defend their master. Number 107 tried ramming right through them but surprisingly it was to no avail. The Photon warriors refused to give up, they tried everything to keep the Number in distance from their master's spirit. Crusher tried using its weapon to deal damage while Thrasher stabbed Number 107's leg with its slashing sword. The dragon roared in pain, he used his wings to smack both warriors into the walls of Kite's soul. Thrasher was very weak, so much so that he couldn't even walk, the Number took advantage of this, Number 107 slowly walked towards Thrasher and prepared its annihilation. At full power, the Number shot out its blast at Thrasher while the mentioned warrior saw the cause of his destruction, only for Crusher to run in front of him and take the hit!

Crusher fell and began to disintegrate upon his destruction while Thrasher watched. Number 107 just stood there trying to recover himself, Thrasher slowly dragged himself to where his fallen comrade was at moments ago, he stood on his knee with his slash sword pointed below the ground and bowed his head in honor. Thrasher then looked back at Kite's spirit and, using the sword, he struggled his way back to his feet and charged at Number 107. The Number shot another blast at him but Thrasher dodged it, he did it again and the warrior dodged. Thrasher kept dodging the blasts until he was close enough to the dragon and struck its wing. Number 107 saw the mark Thrasher made as the warrior fell to the ground, the Number saw the warrior and charged up its blast one more time. Thrasher saw him doing so, he didn't move for he knew that it would be fruitless but his efforts were not in vain, and as a great warrior, his demise would fit him as he fought to the end while protecting his master. Number 107 struck his blast at the fallen warrior and destroyed him.

Number 107 was getting very weak; he did not expect to be ambushed. In what seemed like an eternity, he made it to Kite's spirit and made a grab for it but before he could even touch the spirit he received a big blast from the side! He slammed the wall and shook his head to see what happened. To his shock he saw the one responsible for the attack and tried to get up before it was too late for him.

Coming in closer was Galaxy-Eyes Photon Dragon! The Photon dragon walked towards the Number but stopped, he turned his head to see Kite's spirit. Not keeping his eyes off of the Number, Galaxy-Eyes walked towards his master's spirit and stood in front of it, growling at Number 107 angrily. Galaxy-Eyes started to charge up its own attack but his Number rival interrupted him by charging at him, tackling him to the ground. In the struggle, the two dragons tried to destroy each other with blasts but they both easily dodged them. Galaxy-Eyes had the upper hand seeing as how Number 107 was already worn out from his battles with the other monsters but he refused to leave the soul without its source.

When the Number kept its distance from the other dragon, it began to absorb one of its overlay units, Galaxy-Eyes noticed this and he quickly flew to the Number and banished them both before the process would be complete. With Galaxy-Eyes now more powerful than Number 107, he returned them both back to Kite's soul. The Number had nothing to defend itself with, it looked as if it were over for him. Galaxy-Eyes wanted to make sure Number 107 stayed out of Kite's soul for good and so it summoned a weapon of its own, a type of lance with his colors on it, Photon Trident. Now the dragon was even more powerful than the Number, to repeat the history it made last time the faced each other, Galaxy-Eyes fired up his Photon Stream of Destruction attack and fired it at Number 107.

A big explosion erupted and smoke covered the dragon's sight, despite it all he knew that it was over, it was finally over. He roared in victory and went back to try and find his way back to Kite's spirit. The smoke was clearing up and he could see the spirit. He walked towards it to check up on it, it still looked as peaceful as it was before the battles. But something didn't feel right, something _wasn't_ right. Galaxy-Eyes turned around and saw that Number 107 was still alive! It looked _very_ weak, but that still didn't ease Galaxy-Eyes' conscience. The dragon ran towards the Number and struck it again but it stayed there, intact. He attacked it again, and again, and many more times but nothing happened. Number 107 roared in what seemed to be ominous laughter mocking the Photon dragon. What was going on? After another strike to the Number, Galaxy-Eyes finally realized why he wasn't destroyed, he was fighting a Number! Numbers could only be destroyed by other Numbers and he wasn't a Number! Knowing full well that his attacks were useless Galaxy-Eyes was getting worn out in the process, this gave Number 107 an edge The Number summoned a blue crystal and absorbed it as an overlay unit, Instant Overlay.

Number 107 got back to his feet and absorbed the overlay unit and its effect went off, Galaxy-Eyes' power dropped and his ability to banish was gone, he was stuck. He looked back at Kite's spirit and bowed his head in shame, he failed him, he failed to protect his master, again. Number 107 flew to Galaxy-Eyes and rammed him. Because he was a Number and the Photon dragon wasn't, he stayed intact while the other did not. Galaxy-Eyes Photon Dragon was destroyed.

Number 107, at long last, made his way to the spirit and reached for it, no interruptions this time. He grabbed Kite's spirit and transferred its energy to him. The spirit winced and after a while it screamed in agonizing pain!

"AAAARRRRHHHHH!"

"_Yes…let the Number take hold…"_

The spirit winced and gasped in pain as it continued, "_You will be granted your desires…power…victory…"_

The pain then reached its highest point, enough to drive the spirit mad! "_And now…it's finally yours!_"

Kite woke up, he heard knocking, "Hey Kite?! Are you alright?! I heard shouting!" It was Nistro. He heard noises in that room, he had a bad feeling about it. The doorknob turned, 'that's a good sign," he thought, and the door opened revealing Kite on the other side. "I heard you shouting in there, I thought you were in trouble, is everything alright?"

"Yes, Nistro," Kite said, "never better."

"Ok, good," Nistro replied, "uh, by the way, what _was _goin' on in there?"

Kite's aura started glowing in crimson red, Nistro gasped. Then the number 107 appeared on Kite's heart, no pain this time. Nistro saw in horror as the number started to glow, "what th-what's the meaning of this?!"

"Hey Nistro, how about that duel you owe me?"

**To be continued…**

**A/N: if anyone ever sees any familiarities, yes some of the scenes with Tachyon Dragon and Photon Dragon were inspired from the 90's Spider-Man cartoon from the Venom Saga. This was a fun chapter, can't wait for the next one, don't forget to read & review!**


	6. Chapter 6

**A/N: Wow, you guys really like this story, I do too! :-) well, thanks for the reviews, didn't think the last chapter would attract more readers but I'm happy that it did. Now then, last time we saw Kite/Kaito's monsters trying to protect him from Number 107 but unfortunately they came up short, even the powerful Galaxy-Eyes Photon Dragon was defeated. Now Kite is possessed by Number 107 Galaxy-Eyes Tachyon Dragon, how will things turn out? And will he ever return to his former self? **

**Chapter 6: Tachyon Terror**

"Nistro?! NISTRO!" Dextra yelled at her D-Gazer, "Are you there?!" She ran down the halls looking for her partner, where is he?

"This isn't like him," she thought, "he can't just disappear on me like that, we have to get back to Spartan City. We're going to miss the flight back if he doesn't turn up soon." She tried speaking through her D-Gazer again but he still wasn't answering. "Wherever he is, I really hope he's okay," she painfully admitted to herself, "I've been hearing nothing but loud noises, yelling and screaming ever since we arrived, he better not be involved in whatever crap that is!"

Dextra was about to turn a corner when she realized that Kite's room was right around there. She turned and saw the hallway was clear, what was off was that Kite's room had the door unlocked and opened a little. She slowly walked closer to the door and reached for the knob. She turned it and opened it, inside she saw a mess. She studied the room, it had books fallen from the shelves, the bed had covers around the floor, cards were scattered all over and-

"NISTRO!"

Dextra ran towards an unconscious Nistro who was lying in the middle of the room facedown, his body barely moving, "what are you doing in Kite's room?" she asked him but he didn't answer. His cards were surrounding him while his D-Pad was totaled, its pieces were not far from them but Dextra paid no attention to them, instead she started calling out for help.

"Somebody get Dr. Faker! This is an emergency!" She felt his pulse with her left hand and his heart with her right, just for good measure. He was still alive but what could've happened to him? Dextra noticed that they were alone so no one could've noticed them or heard her cry for help, she took out her D-Gazer and contacted Dr. Faker. "Nistro needs help! He's hurt! Bring someone!"

"Dex…tra…" said the passionate duelist weakly.

"Don't talk, just stay still."

"Kite…Number…"

"Kite?" she asked, her attention all on him now, "what about him? And what Number?"

"Warn…Yuma."

"What do you mean? Nistro, what happened to you?"

"Kite's Number…go warn Yuma."

He passed out as Dr. Faker's men arrived on the scene; Dextra distanced herself from them and allowed for them to check up on her partner. Knowing exactly what to do, she ran outside the room and used her D-Gazer to call up Yuma.

"Yuma, you better pick up!" She angrily thought, "there is no way a kid with _your_ energy would be asleep at this hour, no matter how late it is!" At long last she heard the other end being picked up.

"_Hello?"_ Yuma yawned.

"Yuma, it's Dextra!"

"_uhhh what's up?_"

By this point, Nistro was already on a stretcher and being pulled out of Kite's room with Dextra running after them, "I just found Nistro on the ground out cold!"

That woke him up, "_whaa? What happened to him?!_"

"I don't know but I think Kite does, Nistro told me something about him and some Number."

"But that's impossible! Number 46 is with Astral in the Emperor's Key!"

"I don't know exactly what happened or why he said it; your guess is as good as anyone else's!"

"Well, Dextra, is Nistro gonna' be alright?"

"We'll know afterwards. Yuma, I don't know what he meant by this but he also told me to warn you. I have to go with Nistro now but be careful, and if you see Kite, be _cautious._"

"I'll round up the others! We'll help, right Astral?" Yuma turned around and noticed that his floating friend wasn't anywhere to be seen. "Astral?" he called again reaching for his Key only to realize something was wrong.

"Wha-WHERE'S MY KEY?!"

The medical team ran to the Tower's medical room to examine the fallen duelist Nistro. Dextra tried to stay strong for him, "Nistro don't you dare give up on me!" she yelled despite knowing he couldn't hear her, "I refuse to deal with all those kids with your merchandise alone!" Once they laid him on the table they heard something happening outside in the halls, "Oh great," Dextra said aggravated, "_more_ loud noises, what is it _this time?!_" her answer came in the form of the door closing, forcibly locking them in. It became clear to everyone in the room that the noise they heard a few moments ago was all the doors in the Tower closing, locking any soul in or out.

"Now no one can disturb us," said a wicked Kite after activating the tower's control panel, he looked around the room until he found what he was looking for, the Baria Crystal. He almost forgot he kept it hidden underneath the panel. "I need more power," he said to himself, he looked down to his hand, he was holding the Emperor's Key, "so I can be granted victory!" Kite activated the Baria Crystal with the Key and a portal opened up, he smirked as he stepped in. His crimson red aura illuminated and the number 107 in his heart glowed.

Inside he looked in all directions until he became familiar with the surroundings. He'd been inside the Key before but that was a long time ago. This time he was here to finish what he failed to do back then. He walked inside the Key's dimension, looking for the rest of them, the Number cards.

After a while of walking, he reached the area in the Key's dimension where the Numbers were located at. And right on cue appeared-

"Astral."

"Kite! What are you doing here? _How _did you get in here?"

"None of that matters now, just get out of my way or you won't matter either." Astral didn't budge, he continued to study Kite, "you're not well, Kite, please exit the Key so you can get help!"

"I'm not leaving without the Numbers, besides, I have all the help I need!" Kite's aura started up again, the crimson red light turned purple and illuminated around his body, his eyes matched the color but were hinted to be much darker, and the Number 107 appeared on his heart again. Kite walked closer to Astral, the old fear he had for the former Number Hunter somewhat resumed, he saw what Kite used to be but in a different setting. "Number 107…" Astral said to himself, "but that's impossible, how can you have it?"

Kite continued to walk closer, his aura growing brighter but Astral still wouldn't move. Kite got close enough to him, "last chance, either move now or you'll suffer the same fate Nistro did." Astral gasped, "what did you do to him?" Kite ignored him and just bolted from Astral's left and started running towards the Numbers but something stopped him dead in his tracks, Number 39: Utopia! The Number appeared and stood his own ground against the former Hunter with his armored eyes gazing directly at him. "Utopia," Kite said ominously, "I think I'm going to… enjoy this!"

Kite's aura illuminated again and the number 107 burst, behind him was Number 107: Galaxy-Eyes Tachyon Dragon! Astral saw the new Number summoned behind Kite and watched as the two Numbers fought. Kite stood in the middle with a malicious smirk and turned to Astral's direction, the look on his face saying that they had no hope. Utopia tried guarding the other Numbers as hard as he could but he was getting weaker. Astral had an idea, "Utopia! Perform a Chaos XYZ Evolution! Kite couldn't let that happen, "Number 107!" he called out, "get rid of him!" The dragon did as he was and quickly went for a blast on his opponent but Utopia used up an overlay unit and put a stop to it. Utopia immediately went back at the dragon.

"Kite," said a worried Astral, "why are you doing this? Why do you have Number 107?!"

"Because, Astral," Kite replied, "I need power so I could be granted victory!"

Astral understood now, "but this isn't the way to do it, let us help y-UGGHH!" Astral felt a pain inside of him, he too was getting weaker. Kite looked back at the monsters battling and saw that Number 107 had the upper hand. Utopia was so worn out that he needed his sword buried in the ground just to get back up. With Astral down as well, the Numbers were easy pickin's. But he didn't want to stop there, "Number 107, make sure he _doesn't get up_!" So with that the standing Number went for another attack, only for Utopia to use up its last bit of strength and absorbed his final overlay unit to stop the attack.

However, a new weapon appeared with its own magical aura, the Rank-Up Magic. Number 107 went for the attack as Astral winced and looked on, his Key Protector was, hopefully, going to be victorious. Unfortunately, Utopia Ray V, despite having enough time to finish Ranking up, his abilities were halted as well as Number 107 used up an overlay unit. Astral refused to give up so he called for another Rank-Up Magic and Ranked up Utopia Ray V to Victory!

"How ironic," Kite said, "I wanted victory and I _got it_!" He then took a glance at his right, the Number were glowing! He immediately ran towards them but Victory noticed and ditched Number 107. He stood in front of Kite but Kite showed no fear as Number 107 caught up after them. He quickly used up his final overlay unit and halted Victory's abilities once again and went for the attack. With his last bit of strength, Astral finally collapsed while Number 107continued his onslaught on Victory, only to be blocked by the Zexal Weapons! The ZW's appeared in front of Victory, protecting him from the evil Number's blast but even though they stood no chance, they remained in front of him and bravely took the blast. "Astral," Kite turned to the fallen entity, "you called them out, well played. I look forward to seeing that when we meet again."

Victory got back up and went after Number 107 but to his surprise the dragon was stronger now! Regardless, Victory charged at him and met his demise. He went down but not without a fight, Astral was already out cold and Kite watched the whole thing. He turned back to the Key's vault and proceeded to open it. Walking inside he saw all the Numbers floating around them. "At long last," Kite rasped, "they're all mine!" he reached for them but they too transformed into their monster forms. "What's going on?" he demanded but in response he received a glare from them, all of them. Kite looked around them, they all had that wicked stare, but when he got to Number 46: Draggluon the Ethereal Dragon, he saw what looked like a disappointed look on the Number's face. He tried to ignore it, "now to put you all in your place!" he took out a card from his deck box and activated it, Overlay Regen. Number 107 appeared right behind him and he absorbed the card as if it were an overlay unit. The rest of the Number's were not amused, the first to charge at them was Kite's old Number, Number 10: Illumiknight.

The brave Number charged at them but Number 107 blasted him, Illumiknight's card floated towards Kite and he grabbed it. The other Number's charged up their overlay units but so did the dragon. This prevented the others from activating their effects. Realizing that Utopia wasn't there with them, they were left with no other choice. They surrendered and retracted themselves back in their card forms and stayed floating in the air, waiting for Kite to retrieve them.

Later, Kite exited the Key's dimension, having already done his task. Appearing in his own dimension, he went up to the control panel and activated it, unlocking all the doors in the Tower. As soon as the door for the control room unlocked it immediately opened and in came Yuma, Tori, Rio, and Dextra. "Kite, what are you doing?" demanded Yuma, "where's my Key?!" Kite looked over to where he put it, near the Baria Crystal, he grabbed it and threw it back to Yuma. He examined the Key and knew something was wrong, "where's Astral?" Tori looked at the Key, "Where is he?" she asked

"Kite!" yelled Dextra, "enough with the games, what is going on here?!"

Kite smirked, "I don't have to answer to you," he said, "shouldn't you be with Star-Boy right now? Or do you wanna' share the same medical room with him?" Dextra gasped, he's never spoken to her like that before. "What did you do to him?!" yelled Rio, "you've been acting _extremely _strange and we're trying to help through it but instead you heard one of your friends!"

Yuma ran up to Kite and grabbed him by his collar, "what happened to Astral?! I can't feel his energy in the Key anymore, what did you do to him?!"

Kite shoved him away from him, "Don't worry about him _or_ Utopia, they're both safe in there. They're both just weak from the battle they were just in." "A battle?" Tori asked, "what battle?"

"Yu…ma…"

"Astral?!" called out Yuma, "Astral, are you okay?"

"Kite…"

As soon as he said that, Kite's aura started up again and the Number 107 appeared.

"Kite? What's happened to you?" Yuma asked, but his response came in the form of Kite taking out and revealing the card of Number 107: Galaxy-Eyes Tachyon Dragon. "Now, the fun can _really_ begin!" he said as another portal opened up for him and stepped right in, leaving everyone behind shocked as to what they just witnessed.

"Still can't believe I beat him," said a triumphant Skye to his brother and friends, "yeah and on the first turn!" they said. They laughed about Skye's victory and mocked Kite's state when he saw that he lost so easily. When the laughter calmed down, one of the boys spoke up, "hey Skye, so what are ya' gonna' do with that card you won?" Skye thought about it, he got up and grabbed it, Hieratic Sun Dragon Overlord of Heliopolis. "I _could_ put it in my deck," he stated, "I can just overlay two Judgment Dragons and voila." The others agreed, "but I'd rather not, I don't use XYZ monsters anyway." The others laughed, "Galaxy-Eyes master? In this day and age, it's already hard enough to believe he was even _in_ the World Duel Carnival!" mocked Connor, "man, what a pathetic joke."

"Well, you know what, boys?" Skye announced, "after today, I don't think we'll ever see his face at that school, out on the streets, or anywhere in public ever ag-"

Suddenly, the room's window shattered, scaring everyone! "What the crap?!" yelled Connor but his question was answered when they all looked up and saw a purple glowing Kite floating in the room. He landed right in the center of them and looked around the circle of Skye and Connor's friends. He smirked maliciously, aura and Number illuminating heavily. He then scowled at the brothers, that malicious look on his face already had them scared, they did _not_ expect this to happen. While their friends stood frozen in fear, the brothers were the first to speak up.

"Kite?! What are you doin' here?!"

"Wh-what do you want?!"

"I believe you have something that belongs to me…and I'm here to get it back."

**To Be Continued…**

**A/N: For the record, I don't mind you guys referring to the characters by their original Japanese names in your reviews, I just prefer to use their American names in the story just to make it a little easier on me. This chapter may not be better than the last one, I can honestly say that any other chapter I do will probably **_**never**_** top the last one. Still, I hope you enjoyed it so keep the reviews coming and as always, I'll be back with an update next week! **


	7. Chapter 7

**A/N: Thanks for all the reviews; this has to be my most popular fic here, right up there with 'A Love This Strong.' Last chapter we saw our precious Kite already under the control of Number 107 and having a little reunion with the brothers, Connor and Skye, claiming them to have something that's his and wanting it back. Judging from your reviews I can tell you don't want to waste any more time so here it is. I own nothing so enjoy chapter 7!**

**Chapter 7: Light of Retribution**

Kite scowled at the brothers, he wasted no time so he reached for his deck, activated his duel disk and illuminated his D-Gazer tattoo. His aura was still glowing. Skye and Connor just looked at him in horror, still taking in the Galaxy-Eyes master's entrance. Connor was freaking out more, "what do we do?!" he yelled at his brother, "we face him!" Skye yelled back, "get ahold of yourself, we can beat him! Don't you remember? He struggled against you when you faced him, Hell, as I recall, you even had the _chance_ to beat him and you let it slip, I actually _finished the job_! Consider this your second chance, Kite lost once and he _will_ lose again."

Kite smirked, "such big words, but do you have the skills to back up that mouth?"

Skye glared at him, "watch _your _mouth, loser, history is about to repeat itself," he reached for his deck, activated his D-Pad and D-Gazer, "you're just setting yourself up for more failure." Connor stepped in, "and as long as we're talkin' retribution, I too believe you have something that belongs to me and I want it back." He followed his brother's lead and prepared himself for the aforementioned duel. Kite knew what he meant, "if you really want that Constellar Omega back, the come and get it."

The rules were set, Kite and the boys had 4000 life points with the brothers teaming up against Kite two-on-one, they had to share their life points. "I almost feel sympathetic for you both," Kite taunted, "since we know who will win this final battle, I'll let you both go first just so you wouldn't feel left out." "Oh, we know who is gonna' win," Connor retaliated, "but we'll go first anyway, stand back cuz' I'm goin, first. I draw!"

Kite LP: 4000

Skye & Connor LP: 4000

"Alright, I summon Constellar Pollux!" He called forth a warrior with a cloth covering most of his body and half of his face a twin-bladed sword in a fighting stance. "Next I activate his special ability," he continued, "when Pollux is normal summoned I can summon another Constellar from my hand and I choose Constellar Kaus!" Another warrior appeared, this one looked like a minotaur in armor, he held a crossbow ready for combat. Connor continued his turn, "I activate Kaus' special ability and make his level go up by one so now he's level 5! But why stop there? I can activate it again but this time I make my Pollux's level go up by one, so no they're both level 5!"

Kite stayed calm throughout the turn as he saw the obvious occurrence. "I overlay my two level 5 Constellar's so I can build the overlay network and XYZ Summon Constellar Pleiades!" The brand new XYZ monster appeared with gold and silver armor, waiting for its master's command. "I'm gonna' do what I should've done a long time ago, bring it on, Kite!" It was now Skye's turn, "I draw!" He looked at his hand, "well, so much for another one-turn victory," he thought, "but at least Con's got that Pleiades out, that will protect us for the next two turns but I need to contribute something here too." He looked at the card he drew, "I'll defend us for now," he thought. Skye started his turn, "I activate Charge of the Light Brigade! I'm sure you remember this one, don't you, Kite?"

"All I remember is you sending most of your cards to the graveyard but what you both don't know is that I'm just as reckless."

"You're as reckless as the last time I faced you so don't feed me that crap. Now back to the duel, with Charge of the Light Brigade I can bring a Lightsworn monster to my hand at the cost of sending the top three cards from my deck to the graveyard." Skye milled his cards and added the other to his hand, "I will add Ryko, Lightsworn Hunter to my hand, I got your back, Con!" they nodded to each other, "next I activate Solar Recharge, with this I'll send Wulf, Lightsworn Beast to the graveyard so I can draw two cards." Skye drew his cards and concluded his turn, "I place a monster in defense mode, place one card face-down and end my turn!"

"When we're through with you, you're not only gonna' pay for challengin' us but you'll pay for the window you barged in through, did you think we'd just _ignore_ that?" demanded Connor.

"That window should be the least of your concerns," countered Kite, "whatever!" retaliated an annoyed Skye, "it's you're move Kite, and it's most likely the _only_ turn you'll get so make it count, I've got cards to mill!" Skye looked at his hand, his two Judgment Dragons were among the cards he was holding, and with two other Lightsworns in the graveyard already, it was only a matter of time…

"You need monsters in your graveyard?" taunted Kite, "well allow me to help you! I draw!" Kite's aura started to glow a lot more, he saw his entire hand, "let the fun begin, first off I activate Book of Moon, this switched your Constellar Pleiades to face-won defense mode!" The brothers watched as their only line of offense being reduced to defense. "And since I have no monsters out I can automatically summon Photon Thrasher!" An illuminated warrior with a slashing blade appeared, swinging its sword for combat. "Next," continued Kite, "I summon Photon Crusher!" Another warrior appeared, this one similar in appearance, "next I-" he was interrupted when all three boys looked at Kite's monsters, they were in pain! "What's happening to them?" asked Connor but Kite stayed silent; he just watched as his monsters' armor turned from blue to purple! "Now, where was I? Oh, that's right," he continued, "I overlay my two level four monsters so I can build the Overlay Network and XYZ Summon Photon Papilloperative!" A woman in a face-mask appeared, she had beautifully designed butterfly wings, she was quickly divulged by purple aura.

The brothers laughed, "a butterfly? Really, Kite?" taunted Skye, "and here I thought we were gonna' have ole' Galaxy-Eyes come out and fall again!" Kite just ignored them and continued his turn, "since there's an XYZ on the field I can automatically summon from my hand Photon Slasher!" Slasher appeared wielding his blade maliciously as the purple aura surrounded it. "Next I activate the spell Photon Lead, this lets me summon Photon Satellite from my hand!" A small satellite appeared with the purple aura illuminating it as well, "I activate my Satellite's special ability, I can combine its level with another Photon monster and make both of their levels that same amount, so by copying Photon Slasher's level and uniting it with Satellite's, they both become level six!"

"This doesn't look so good!" cried out an anxious Connor, "don't lose focus!" yelled Skye, "our monsters are in defense, we're not gonna lose any life points, see?" He hoped that calmed down his younger brother because with Kite's new attitude, this purple light, and his monsters acting weird almost made him think twice about the duel.

"I think you both know what's coming next! I overlay my two level six monsters so I can build the Overlay Network and XYZ Summon Photon Strike Bounzer!" A big and red monster appeared, it looked almost all purple with very little red involved. "All is going to plan," Kite told the brothers, "I activate Papilloperative's special ability, by detaching one overlay unit, I can switch your face-down monster's battle mode to face-up attack mode, and I'm targeting yours, Skye!." Sky smirked as the card was switched revealing Ryko.

"You activated my Ryko's ability, when he's flipped face-up I can destroy your Photon Strike Bounzer and send the top three cards from my deck to the graveyard!"

"Don't bother," replied Kite, "I activate Strike Bounzer's effect, by detaching an overlay unit I can stop Ryko's destruction and inflict 1000 points of damage to you both."

Sky & Connor LP: 3000

Skye and Connor winced at the damage taken, they didn't expect that. "I almost forgot to mention," Kite continued, "when my Papilloperative activated her effect and switched Ryko, she also lowered his attack points by 600."

"But my Ryko's only got 200 attack points!" Yelled Skye, "then that means that-"

"He's dropped to zero!" Kite finished that sentence, "and now to make sure you both don't get up I'll have my Photon Papilloperative attack your face-down Constellar Pleiades." The butterfly assassin obeyed her command, she attacked the Constellar and destroyed it. "Now Photon Strike Bounzer," ordered Kite, "attack that pathetic pussycat!" Strike Bounzer just shoved Ryko towards Sky but the beast disintegrated before it even made contact, but what _did_ make contact was the heavy damage they received.

Sky & Connor LP: 300

The brothers felt the impact and fell to the ground, "this is impossible! yelled Skye, "_how_ did he get so good all of a sudden?! I just beat him single-handedly!" He turned to his brother, "this is all _your_ fault, you're holdin' me back!" Connor gave him a dirty look, "my fault? At least I started my first turn strong which is more than what I can say about _you_!"

"You let him beat you last time!"

"Yeah, well you're letting him beat _us_ right now!"

Kite grew impatient, "if you drooling idiots are done blabbing nonsense, I'm ending my turn."

After hearing that, Connor tried to take charge, "lemme' show you how it's done, I draw!" He looked at his hand and got an idea, "I summon Constellar Algeidi." A female-looking humanoid ram came with a staff in hand, "I activate her effect," said Connor, "she allows me to summon another Constellar from my hand and I summon another Algeidi!" The same monster appeared, now there were two. "I overlay my two level four monsters so I can build the Overlay Network and XYZ Summon Constellar Praesepe!" A golden mechanical knight appeared, ready for battle.

"Connor!" yelled an angry Skye, "whatever you do, do _not _finish him off, I will do it."

"Bullshit," retaliated Connor, "you'll just mess it up for us, how else did we end up with 300 life points?!"

"Do _not_ attack him!"

"I attack your butterfly!" Connor ignored his brother, "and I activate his special ability, by detachin an overlay unit I can increase my monster's attack power by 1000 when it's attacking one of yours, so go Praesepe, attack Photon Papilloperative!" The female butterfly was destroyed, its particles floating in the air and Kite just stood there, not letting the damage affect him.

Kite LP: 2700

"I told you not to attack him."

"Fine, you want him? He's all yours!" Connor began to take off his D-Gazer and remove his D-Pad, "I'm outta' here, this is _way_ too much for me!" But Kite had other plans, "you're not going _anywhere_!" he shot out a Duel Anchor around the younger duelist's arm, "you're finishing this duel with him so get back here!" Now Connor was scared, after everything that happened today he started to regret challenging Kite to make a name for himself in the first place. Then a thought occurred to him, "Hey! How come you didn't use Photon Strike Bounzer's effect on my Praesepe? That could've won you the duel."

Kite smirked as his aura increased, "because…I want…_him_!" He pointed at Skye who was just as shocked to see Kite acting the way he was, "alright Kite, you want me? Well here I go, I draw!" Skye looked at the card and knew what he had to do, "I activate the spell Dark Hole, this will take care of our Strike Bounzer problem." A giant black hole appeared beneath the monsters and started pulling them down. "You destroyed my Praesepe! Why'd you do that for?!"

"I told you that I'm going to be the one to beat him, you want your Constellar Omega back, right?" Connor had a devious smile on his face when he saw his brother's expression, he knew now, "finish him!" he commanded.

Yuma, Tori, Rio and Dextra ran around the streets looking for Kite, "Kite! Get back here!" yelled Dextra, "Come back, Kite" called out Tori. Rio just looked onward, "why did he have the number 107 on his heart?" she thought, "he can't be possessed, he just can't be, he's supposed to be one of the best duelists around, he's too strong for this." Just then her trance was interrupted when three boys started running towards them screaming for help.

"Hey!" Yuma halted them, "what's going on with you guys?"

"That creepy Kite guy is back there attacking Skye and Connor!"

"Yeah, he just crashed right through the glass and was all purple and glowing!"

The boys were too terrified to speak anymore so they took off running but not before Rio spoke up, "where is that house at?"

One of them heard her, "just down the alley you can't miss it, trust me!" They ran until they vanished, Rio turned back to her friends, "you heard them, let's get going!" She started to run down the alley while Yuma and Tori followed her, as soon as they were at a good distance, Dextra began to follow them realizing what just happened, "I'm following orders…from a teenager, this is definitely _not_ my day."

As they were all gone, a hooded figure watched them go and proceeded to follow them quietly.

The duel was still going but Kite didn't seem to have the upper hand for much longer as it was now Skye's turn but Kite remained confident, "with only 300 life points left and not even four Lightsworns in the graveyard, Judgment Dragon is pretty much crap now, isn't he?"

"Shut up!" yelled Skye, annoyed that his best cards were now in his possession yet couldn't use it, but he could still fight back. "I activate my trap card, Glorious Illusion. This allows me to summon a Lightsworn from my graveyard and I'm reviving Wulf, Lightsworn Beast!" The beastial appeared with its own staff over its shoulders.

"Why are you so confident?" demanded Skye, "we're right back to where we started, just like last time. I'm fully armed while you have your entire field wiped clean and your life points wide open, you're defenseless yet again!"

Kite chuckled, "you fool," he said, "my life points may be vulnerable to your attack but I'll still be standing and finish you both odd next turn."

"And what makes you think you'll survive?" asked Connor.

"Yeah," agreed Skye, "what makes you think I don't already have a plan in store?"

Kite's smirk changed to a dark scowl, "because, I noticed you kept looking at the same two cards in your hand, I'm gonna' go out on a limb here and say that those are your Judgment Dragons." Skye's eyes widened, how could he know? "And even if you did summon either one of them," Kite continued, "I doubt you'd be okay with ending this duel and not using their effects. You have very few Lightsworns in the graveyard, you're too paranoid with Connor over there to even think straight and your dueling skills look like something that even clowns would laugh at. You beat me in one turn and _this _is what's claiming to be better? You're blaiming your own brother for both your failures, and for that you'll pay."

"I've had enough of your crap, Wulf, attack him!" The Lightsworn monster obeyed and attacked Kite's life points while the brothers watched them decrease.

Kite LP: 600

Kite still stood as if the heavy damage didn't affect him at all, he continued to scowl at the brothers, "looks like I was right."

"Shut up! It doesn't matter now! You have no cards in your hand or on the field, anything you draw will be useless against us!" The brothers smirked, thinking that the duel was over.

"Anything I draw won't be useless, in fact, it's what's going to finish you both, especially _you_, Skye! I draw!" With the only card in his hand, the brothers could only imagine what would happen. Kite looked at the card, it was one of the new ones his father Dr. Faker put in, it looked like an old one that no one seemed to use much nowadays, but Kite was ready to use it.

"I activate the spell Pot of Avarice!" A big and creepy-looking smiling pot studded with jewels emerged from the card and stared at Skye and Connor.

"What does _that thing_ do?" asked Skye.

"This pot allows me to return exactly five monsters from my graveyard back to my deck and shuffle it." The pot turned to face Kite and shot out five monster cards directly at his deck. Kite turned to face Skye, "next I'm allowed to draw two cards, and that's all I need to end this duel." He drew his two cards and looked at them, just what he needed. At their sight, his aura increased along with the number 107.

"Kite!"

All three duelists looked to the side and saw a group of other teens running towards them, they knew who they were.

"Kite, what are you doing?" asked Dextra, "let them go," said Yuma. Tori stood behind Yuma hoping that he could talk some sense into him. Rio just stood there, she was so scared that she didn't know how to react seeing him like this.

"It's about time you found me," Kite told them, "you're just in time to watch these you idiots fall in humiliation… and, if I'm merciless afterwards, then some. The others gasped, "how could you be so cruel? This isn't like you!" Tori yelled. "_It's that Number,_" Yuma thought,_ "he's being controlled!"_

"Because," Kite replied, "_they need to pay_! I summon Galaxy Wizard!" The wizard appeared and nearly collapsed when the purple light overwhelmed it, Wizard got right back up in its purple glow. "_Even his monsters are falling under Number 107's power,"_ Yuma thought.

"Next I activate Galaxy Wizard's special ability, for this final turn I'll double his level, making him level eight. Next, since my Wizard is now a level eight, I can activate the spell Galaxy Expedition, this allows me to summon another Photon or Galaxy Monster from my deck!" Everyone watched as Kite continued his move, "with the power of light in this dark world I will be granted victory, I summon Galaxy-Eyes Photon Dragon!"

The almighty dragon descended from the skies and landed on the battlefield. Galaxy-Eyes roared in pain, the purple aura tried to take control but the dragon wasn't letting it.

"You can't let the Number control you, Kite!" shouted Yuma, "even Galaxy-Eyes is trying to fight it!" But Yuma closed his mouth when the influence finally reached the powerful dragon and contaminated him in purple and red light! Seeing the dragon and Galaxy wizard out, Yuma knew exactly what was going to happen next.

"Don't do it! Please don't do it!"

"Shut up! I know _exactly_ what I'm doing!" Not wasting any more time, Kite continued, "I overlay level eight Galaxy Wizard and Galaxy-Eyes Photon Dragon!" The two monsters began glowing for the XYZ Summon but for some reason the process wouldn't continue, much less start because Galaxy-Eyes struggled to stay on the ground, he wanted no part in this summoning.

"I _said_ I overlay Galaxy Wizard and Galaxy-Eyes Photon Dragon!" The dragon still struggled; it roared in aggravation but still wouldn't move forth with the summoning. Skye and Connor looked on, "if that doesn't go through then we still have a chance," Skye told his brother. They looked back at Kite and the others.

"C'mon, Galaxy-Eyes, fight it!" Yuma thought, "don't give up!"

Kite had enough, "_I said overlay, damn it!_" and with that Galaxy-Eyes gave up, the power was just too strong for him and he took part in the occurring summoning. They all looked up and saw the new monster emerge from the ball of energy. "I build the Overlay Network to XYZ Summon, come forth, Number 107: Galaxy-Eyes Tachyon Dragon!" This new dragon looked mechanical in appearance; its complexion was purple and crimson red. It looked so wicked that Kite smiled maliciously at his new dragon.

"He…he did it," Yuma said as he collapsed to his knees, "he let the Number take control of him…" he looked on as the duel continued.

"3000 attack points?!" yelled Skye, "this can't be!"

"We must be dreaming!" yelled Connor.

"This isn't a dream," Kite told them, "it's your worst nightmare, I'm coming for you, Skye! Number 107, attack Skye's Wulf!" The dragon rammed towards the defenseless beast but the focus shifted back to Kite, "I activate Number 107's special ability, at the start of my battle phase I can detach an overlay unit to negate all effects on the field except for him, so now you're even more defenseless. Number 107, finish him off and grant _me_ victory!" The Number attacked and destroyed Wulf, leaving only its particles behind and their life points decreasing.

Skye & Connor LP: 0

The duel was over but Kite wasn't, he jumped at the fallen brothers and reached for the card Hieratic Sun Dragon Overlord of Heliopolis. As soon as he touched it, it glowed and nearly burned Kite's hand, "GAAAHHHH! What was that?!" He decided to leave it as he saw no use for it. In the distance, Dextra called out to him, "Kite! Let us help you!" But he ignored her as his focus was shifted to Yuma.

"Now it's _your_ turn!" he used his Duel Anchor to reach out to Yuma, "Yuma look out!" Dextra tried warning him but the anchor didn't reach him, Rio stood in front of Yuma, allowed to be grabbed herself!

"Damn it!" Kite yelled.

"Let her go!" yelled Tori, Rio struggled to get out of the grip the Anchor had but it was no use.

Kite brushed off the fact that he missed his target, "if _any_ of you _ever_ want to see her again then have Yuma over there stop his sulking and accept my challenge!" A portal opened up behind Kite and he pulled Rio closer to him, "aren't _you_ fearless? Let's see how you are for where we're going." Rio stayed calm, she was terrified but she didn't want him to know that, he had _some_ clue as to her being afraid but still, Rio didn't want to show it. She tried struggling from the Anchor one more time but Kite chuckled at the mere sight of it, "cute, watching you struggle even though you have no chance." He entered the portal as Yuma, Dextra and Tori ran towards them but it was too late, after Kite entered he immediately pulled Rio in and the portal vanished!

"Kite, bring her back!" Tori yelled at the sky but knew he wouldn't. Dextra shifted her attention to a now woken-up Connor.

"You two!"

"Huh? What?"

"Why was Kite dueling you?"

Connor was the first to speak up, Skye was more worn out than he was since he was the one who took the attack, "he said somethin' about us havin' somethin' that belongs to him and that he wanted it back!"

"What was it?"

Connor remembered, "a card! Some Hieratic Sun Dragon card, Skye has it!" He got up and ran towards his brother and checked but couldn't find the card anywhere! "I swear that's what he was after, we didn't have anything else!" Dextra turned to Yuma and Tori, "let's go, we have no reason to be here anymore." She walked away along with Tori and a still-shocked Yuma leaving a confused Connor and an unconscious Skye. "Where _is _that card anyway?" Connor asked himself.

In the shadows, watching everything happen, the hooded figure put in front of his face the aforementioned card, Hieratic Sun Dragon Overlord of Heliopolis. He looked at it, "you helped me when I wasn't well, Kite," said Hart, pulling off his hoodie, "now it's _my_ turn to help _you_."

**To Be Continued…**

**A/N: Longest chapter of this story! Wow! Well Hart seems to be joining in the fight against Number 107's influence on Kite, let's see how that plays out, and let's not forget that Kite has now captured Rio, what can happen there? Find out next week and don't forget to review! Until next time!**


	8. Chapter 8

**A/N: Kite is still under Number 107's control, he defeated Skye and Connor **_**and **_**he's kidnapped Rio, but that's just the beginning. While being controlled by a Number, what else is Kite capable of? Still own nothing, if I did then this story would be an **_**actual**_** story arc in the anime or even the manga, but I don't and it isn't so enjoy chapter 8!**

**Chapter 8: Confrontations**

"Why was I not aware of this before?!" Dr. Faker yelled as he and Dextra walked down to the medical room, "how could Kite have that Number when he _knew_ they were dangerous, especially _that one_!"

"It's not your fault, sir," she assured him, "no one was aware as far as I can tell, but you know Kite, he's very secretive." She was right, Kite spent a good amount of the World Duel Carnival keeping secrets from Mr. Heartland, Dextra and Nistro, so it seemed fitting that he wouldn't stop there. Faker couldn't help but feel a little guilty, he tried his best to help his son but it only dug him a deeper hole, making it very hard to get out. "I have to do something," the doctor said, "with Kite having most of the Numbers now who knows _what_ he'll do next…" Dextra saw the worry in his face, but the image of the look on Kite's face under Number 107's control proved too much for her.

They arrived at Nistro's room and saw that he was awake and talking to the doctor examining him. They saw Dr. Faker and Dextra open the door and the doctor excused himself, "Nistro," Dr. Faker was the first to speak, "how are you feeling?"

"The Doc said that there wasn't too much trauma inflicted so I should be back in action at Spartan City within the next week or so. Shame that I had Dextra cancel the next few shows, poor kids, they're gonna' be so disappointed."

Dextra looked at him, who would have thought that Nistro of all energetic and passionate people would end up in a hospital bed? "Do you remember last night?" she asked her bedridden friend, "you know, the reason you're here?" Nistro closed his eyes, the images came flooding back, "you mean what happened between me and Kite? If that even _was_ Kite?" "He's possessed by a Number now," Faker told him, "I'm guessing you both dueled and you were the one who came up short." The passionate duelist nodded weakly, he was still sore from the pain he took from the prior night, it was a miracle that he wasn't as affected much now. "I knew as soon as I saw the number on his heart that there was something wrong, I never thought that he would ever let a Number control him."

"He possessed so many in the past that it was probably only a matter of time before one decided to return the favor," Faker commented, he turned back to Dextra, "do you know where he could be at this moment?" The butterfly duelist shook her head, "we saw him go through what looked like some magical portal with the Kastle girl so your guess is as good as anyone else's." Nistro shifted his focus on to her, "what are her friends going to do about it?"

"Yuma's with her brother Shark right now delivering the news and hopefully coming up with a plan and it'd better be a good one. They're not dealing with just another unlucky soul corrupt from a random Number." Faker turned to walk out, "I'll have my men work on locating her duel Gazer, wherever it is, she'll be there too, as well as Kite."

…

"LET ME GO, YUMA!" Shark yelled as his friend tried his hardest to contain him, "I'M GONNA' FIND HIM AND BEAT THE NUMBER OUT OF HIM!"

"Shark, this isn't the way to do it," Yuma told him in between struggles, "we need to come up with a plan first and work together if we want Rio and Kite back!"

"I don't care! I'm getting her back myself!"

"You can't, don't you see? Kite's not himself, he only has her because she got in the way, let _me_ go get her, it's _my_ fault he has her!"

The water duelist continued struggling, "this is _my_ sister, Yuma, she can barely stand up to a _cat_! She's in danger and I have to save her!" Shark hated to put down Rio that way but it was the truth, besides, he was her brother, it was his job to worry about her safety. He continued struggling but Yuma still held on, "I'm getting _extremely _tired of picking up after the Barians!"

Yuma knew where Shark was coming from, the problem was that right now they didn't even have a plan, they didn't even know where the possessed Kite was keeping Rio, they reached a dead end. "You need to calm down first," he told his still struggling friend, through it all, Shark was actually impressed that Yuma was strong enough to contain him at his worst but still he needed to find Rio, "he wants to face me so the least we can do is lure him out with a challenge from me." That's when Shark calmed down a bit, he turned around to the younger duelist, "he's mine," he told him, "we still have a score to settle from way back when." Yuma nodded in agreement, "seems like we're getting somewhere," Yuma said, "but he took all of my Numbers except Utopia, that's our disadvantage." Shark smirked as he reached for his deck box and pulled out a card, "he didn't take _my_ Numbers," he showed him Number 32: Shark Drake.

Yuma nodded, "Dextra's at Dr. Fakers trying to locate them," he told him, "maybe they found them, it's worth checking out."

"Then let's go, we can't waste any more time!" The two boys ran off to Heartland Tower. Watching them go was a hooded Hart, he pulled out and looked at his Hieratic Sun Dragon card. He then watched Yuma and Shark disappear in the distance. He too walked away in a different direction.

…

Rio started to regain consciousness, she wasn't hurt but she felt like she was being held down by something. Sure enough, she was, she was chained to shackles that were attached to the wall. She was still able to move but not around the room. She looked around and saw that she was in what appeared to be an abandoned warehouse. Knowing that there was only one thing she could do with her hands not being chained up, she reached for her D-Gazer to signal someone for help but couldn't find it. "Ohh, where is it?" she panicked, "looking for this?" she looked up and saw Kite holding her D-Gazer. With the first muscle she moved was all that was needed to get her close enough to watch Kite crush it in his hand. He dropped the pieces before her while she watched in shock, "how could you do that?" she asked him, "I thought you were a nice person." Kite scowled at her, "being nice doesn't get you anywhere in life."

Rio looked at him, "what does that mean?" Kite ignored her, he just walked away as a portal opened up in front of him. He stepped in, "wait," Rio called out to him, "don't leave me here." Kite smirked, "I'm not leaving you here, but when I get back, _you'd_ better still be here or I'll come looking for you. Oh, and we're also in an abandoned neighborhood so save your breath screaming for help."

"Why do you need me?"

"You'll find out when I return."

"But-" Kite walked in as the portal closed, leaving Rio all alone again.

…

"Did you find anything?" Faker asked Orbital 7, "well do-doctor, I-" Yuma and Shark came rushing in, swinging doors interrupting them, "did you guys find anything?" Yuma asked. Almost annoyed at the interruption, the robot resumed his explanation, "a-as I was about to say, we _did_ manage to find the girl's wh-whereabouts via her D-Gazer."

"Yess!" yelled Yuma, "well," Shark demanded, "what are you waiting for? Give us the directions so we can go!"

"Th-that's the problem," Orbital said, "her location was de-detected but disappeared in a few se-seconds upon discovery."

"What does that mean?" Faker asked.

"It means that she p-probably turned off her D-Gazer, although I hardly think th-that's the case, no one ever turns them completely off, you know."

"So what then?!" Shark demanded again.

"I-I also might think that it probably stopped functioning due to not recharging it, or…"

"Or what?!"

"Or maybe it…broke, hopefully that's not the case."

Shark growled, "Kite better not have hurt her or I'll kill him!" "Maybe she's still in that area," Yuma pointed out, "we could still go check it out."

"Th-that's another problem, you see," Orbital continued, "the area where she was lo-located in is an abandoned warehouse and it's in an abandoned business neighborhood. Starting s-sometime this week those buildings will be knocked down and into ru-rubble!"

"I'm not taking any chances, give me the directions now!" The directions were soon printed out as Dextra walked in the room, "the copter's ready, let's go."

…

Rio tried everything she could do to escape despite Kite telling her not to. She feared the Number possessing him greatly so she didn't want to stick around for whatever he was planning to do to her. Rio tried using the pins in her hair and even her nails as a last resort but the pins twisted and her nails almost broke. "I have to get out of here," she said, "who knows when he'll be back."

The portal opened up and Kite, in his purple aura, stepped out. "Wh-where were you?" Rio asked, "let's just say, wherever I was, Charlie's going to need lady luck now more than ever to get back on his feet if he wants to continue running from the police."

"What did you do to him?"

"I dueled him as punishment for his crimes, he's the Heartland police's problem now."

Rio was shocked, from what she's learned, Numbers control their users to do evil deeds, but what she sensed in him was very different. When she sensed Number 107 when Mizael had it, she believed that the dragon would bring dark destruction but Kite seems to do somewhat of the opposite of that. "Kite?...please let me go."

Kite turned back to her and slowly walked up to her. He knelt down to reach her gaze, "I'm not letting you go until my plan goes down right."

"Why are you doing this?"

"For power and victory," he answered, "look into my eyes, Rio, and tell me that you don't want the same." The Kastle sister obeyed him and saw his eyes. How terrifying they looked, she remembered when they used to seem less intimidating, now she could barely make the eye contact he demanded. "What I want is to go, please Kite, this isn't like you."

"Answer the question, don't you want power? Don't you want to be the one who can overcome whatever this damn life throws your way?"

Rio turned away, she was already a strong person, she didn't need something as horrible as a Number to do all that for her, does she? "What happened to you?" she asked Kite, "you used to be so strong and now you allowed some Number to take control of you? That's pretty weak of you." As soon as she finished that sentence she felt regret coming up, she knew Kite would never hit a girl but this wasn't the Kite that she knew anymore, who knows what this new Kite would be capable of.

The Photon duelist looked at Rio dead in her eyes, that intimidating look caused her to look away and wait whatever he had in store for her. She felt him breathing close to her neck and continued to wait for her unfortunate fate. Still turned away from his gaze, she started to panic a little when she noticed his hand go up. Kite tucked a lock of her hair behind her ear and moved closer, "don't you want to beat your brother?" he said ominously in her ear. Rio slowly turned around, "what…are you saying?"

"Aren't you tired of losing to Shark? For once, don't you want to be the Kastle sibling who comes out on top?" Rio still didn't answer, "join me," Kite said, "join me and you'll be granted what was promised to me." Rio turned to face him but right away faced the ground, his crimson purple eyes still frightened her, "Kite, I…-"

They were interrupted when the air started blowing through them, hard. Kite got up and went to the window to see a copter landing in front the building. He figured that Rio might have reached them while he was gone but when he saw Yuma hop out of the copter he knew right away, "Yuma, you always seem to find a way." He then saw Shark and Dextra climb out of the flying engine, "well this is unexpected," he said out loud, he turned back to the Ice Queen, "no matter, you're still not going anywhere."

Shark kicked the door open, "Rio!"

"Reginald! Over here!"

The water duelist was about to run to his shackled up sister when Kite halted them, "don't take another step," Shark looked at him, "so, you've been possessed by a Number card huh? Well welcome to the club."

"It's no surprise _you've_ noticed right away, Shark, after all, you've been possessed by _three_, don't I get a secret handshake or something?"

"Give back my sister and I promise I won't _let_ my hand do the talking."

"How brave of you, but I just want Yuma."

"I'm here, Kite," Yuma said as he walked in front of Shark, "alright, here I am so let Shark's sister go." On the side, Rio fumed a little over what Yuma just referred to her as.

"Not so fast," Shark stepped in front of Yuma, "since you seem to have a thirst for destruction like most Number Holders do, then we're taking this to a different route."

"What do you mean?" Kite asked.

"If you want Yuma then you'll have to go through _me_ first!" Shark then pulled out and activated his D-Pad and D-Gazer, "now prepare yourself for battle!"

**A/N: This was uploaded a little later than I expected due to my Wi-Fi being out for the week but still I feel accomplished, this is the THIRD fic I uploaded today, that's a new record for me. Be sure to review and I'll be back next week with another update, don't miss Kite vs. Shark!**


	9. Chapter 9

**Disclaimer: thank you all for the reviews, happy to see you're all still enjoying this fic, I've twice as many reviews than I have chapters! Let us welcome our new follower Arthur Dewalt, I hope you'll be enjoying this fic just as everyone else. So welcome back, I knew you'd be back, after all who would want to miss Shark vs. Kite?! With that being said, let's begin. Still own nothing or this chapter would be an episode in the anime. Enjoy chapter 9!**

**Chapter 9: Light in the Abyss**

Shark activated his D-Pad and D-Gazer, he then put his deck in its slot and signaled he was ready to duel. He scowled at Kite who hadn't moved a muscle since the former's actions of combat. Kite just looked at him, he smirked again as his aura increased and his eyes changed color. He looked back at Rio who caught a quick glimpse of his eyes and she winced away from that gaze. The Photon duelist turned back to face his captive's older sibling.

"You're challenging me, Shark?" Kite asked sarcastically, "you can't be serious."

"You're possessed by a Number that was owned by a Barian, you stole Yuma's Numbers and you've kidnapped my sister, things just went _beyond_ serious!"

Kite readied himself, "well then, if I have to go through you to get to Yuma then so be it," Kite shifted his gaze to Yuma, he too was looking back at him with a fierce look. He then looked at the other person standing alongside them, Dextra. Kite shifted his focus back to his challenger, "I've defeated you once before so I should accomplish that task a second time, go, Photon Transformation!" His entire attire then changed to a dark purple colored tone, his crescent duel disk and purple D-Gazer tattoo appeared, now, he too was ready.

"I won't hold anything back, you hear me?!" Shark shouted at his possessed friend, "I'll do whatever I can to get my sister back!" The duel has now begun.

Kite: 4000

Shark: 4000

"_This whole thing started with Skye and Connor,"_ Rio thought, "_there has to be a way to bring Kite back to his normal self, but how?" _As she thought about it, the duel went underway.

"I'll make you regret keeping that Number, Kite!" Shark claimed, "I draw!" he looked at his hand and started his turn. "First I summon Spear Shark in attack mode!" A shark with a harpoon as its nose appeared, "next, since I summoned a fish monster to the field I can automatically summon Shark Stickers from my hand!" A new fish appeared and it clung on to the other shark on the field. Kite wasn't surprised that his opponent had two monsters on the field in just a second, he knew what was coming next. What he did know was that Shark was putting so much work in his moves and that would become his downfall.

"I'm actually glad you challenged me," Kite spoke out, "I noticed that I was a few Numbers short, yours will do until I face Yuma for his Utopia."

"Is that what this is about?" Shark asked, "you're trying to collect Numbers again? You don't have any use for them anymore!"

The water duelist was right but Kite had his own reasons, and that was for more power. Shark continued his turn as he knew his opponent wouldn't give him a direct answer for his question. "Since I summoned Spear Shark, his effect kicks in to make all level three monsters on my field into level four, so now my Shark Stickers is a level four."

"Bring it on, I'm waiting."

"You asked for it, I overlay my two level four monsters so I can build the overlay network and XYZ Summon Bahamut Shark!" A giant humanoid sea creature emerged from the card and looked at Kite. He was a little surprised, "I've never seen that monster before," Kite said, "only 2600 attack points, this might be a little harder to take down."

"He's not the only one you should worry about," Shark called out, "I activate Bahamut Shark's special ability, by detaching an overlay unit I can summon a Rank 3 XYZ monster from my extra deck!"

"What?!"

Everyone gasped, "can he do that?" Yuma asked, "yes, he can," Yuma turned to see Dextra speaking, "he _can_ do it but from the looks of it, this type of summoning comes with a heavy price, when that monster is destroyed then it can't be revived from the graveyard nor does it receive its overlay units to activate its effects, he needs to re-summon it under the proper conditions." Yuma was surprised at how such a ruling could be active, he turned back to the duel.

"With Bahamut Shark's effect I summon Number 47: Nightmare Shark!" The shark appeared before Kite, "another Number, you've been holding out on me." "That's right," Shark replied, "except unlike you, I'm not letting it possess me, now that Nightmare Shark is out his effect activates, whenever he's summoned I can attach a level 3 Water monster from my hand to him as an overlay unit." The Number absorbed the card that Shark threw at him. "I set one card face-down and end my turn, it's your move, Kite." Shark waited for whatever Kite had in store for him.

Kite studied Shark's field one more time, two XYZ monsters in one turn, he wasn't expecting this but he knew how to work around it. "I draw!" The Photon duelist looked over his hand and proceeded with his turn, "since my field is clear I start things off with Photon Thrasher." The warrior appeared and the purple aura wasted no time in surrounding it, "next I summon Photon Circle," as the new monster appeared and the aura overwhelming it, the two began to glow, "I overlay my two level 4 Light monsters so I can build the overlay network and XYZ Summon Constellar Omega!" The monster Kite obtained from Connor appeared and obeyed his command, "Constellar Omega, attack his Nightmare Shark!"

"He won't be destroyed because he's a Number," Shark said, "but I'll still activate my trap card, Poseidon Wave! With this card, not only do I stop your attack but you take 800 points of damage for every Water monster on my field and that's 1600 points inflicted!"

"Nice move but I activate Omega's special ability, by detaching an overlay unit I can make him immune to your Spell and Trap cards for the rest of this turn, because of the immunity, his attack won't be negated therefore I won't be dealt any damage." With that, Constellar Omega rammed through the wave and struck Nightmare Shark but didn't destroy him. Shark winced as the damage was dealt to him.

Shark LP: 3600

"I place one card face-down and that will be it." Kite ended his turn and waited for Shark. "Don't enjoy yourself too much," Shark said, "my life points may be down but I still have the upper hand, I activate the Spell Aqua Jet, this permanently boosts up Bahamut Shark's attack by 1000 points, next I activate Nightmare Shark's special ability, when I detach an overlay unit he can attack you directly!" The shark attacked Kite's life points and he was pushed back from the impact.

Kite LP: 2000

"Be careful, Reginald!" Rio called out to her brother, even though her D-Gazer was totaled she still knew what was going on, "don't hurt him!"

"Don't hurt him? I have to, otherwise he won't stop this madness!" he yelled back to her, seeing her in shackles made him more aggravated, "since I activated Nightmare Shark's effect none of my other monsters can attack this turn, thats why I activated Aqua Jet, to protect Bahamut Shark should you have something to counter it. I place one card facedown, it's your move." Kite got back up, "had enough yet?" Shark called out, "had enough?" Kite asked back, "I've only just begun, I draw!" He readied his hand, "I activate Photon Trade, this allows me to send a Photon Monster to my graveyard so I can draw two cards, so I'll send Photon Satellite away and I draw. Next I summon Galaxy Wizard." A wizard appeared from the card holding a staff and the aura taking control, "I activate its effect and double its level to level 8, because of that I can activate the spell Galaxy Expedition, this will allow me to summon Galaxy Knight from my deck." A giant knight in blue armor appeared alongside Galaxy Wizard and they began to glow, "I overlay my two level 8 monsters so I can build the overlay network and XYZ Summon!"

"Here it comes!" Yuma yelled, "it's Number-"

"Number 40: Gimmick Puppet of Strings!" Kite finished his sentence as the giant mechanical evil-looking machine emerged, "oh I'm sorry, were you expecting someone else?" Shark silently growled at him, he thought Kite was going to summon _it_ but was a little relieved he didn't.

"Where's the fun in ending this duel so soon?" Kite mocked, "besides, aren't you enjoying your reunion with Strings here? Kind of brings back some memories."

"That's in the past and you know that!" Shark snapped, "doesn't sound like it," Kite replied, "doesn't matter now, I activate his effect, I'll detach an overlay unit to place String Counters on Bahamut Shark and Number 47: Nightmare Shark!" The giant puppet launched an overlay unit and placed its counters on Shark's monsters, "at the end of your turn you monsters will not only be destroyed but you'll take 500 points of damage for each one gone, I'm feeling a little impatient so i just attack your Nightmare Shark!" The monster attacked but was halted, "I activate my trap card, Dimensional Prison!" Shark revealed his trap, "when your monster attacks I can banish him from the game!" A portal opened up in front of Shark and the Gimmick Puppet went through it, the portal then vanished. "As I recall," Shark said, "if Strings is no longer on the field then his effect to destroy my monsters goes with him so my monsters are still safe." "I still have one more attack," Kite said, "Constellar Omega, attack his Nightmare Shark!" Shark fell back from the impact.

Shark LP: 3200

"Reginald!" Rio called out to him, she almost felt that impact. Shark got back up, "I've had enough of your games," he said, he was almost worn out yet still had most of his life points intact, but he wouldn't give up, "I draw!" He carefully chose his cards and laid down his strategy, "I activate the spell called Surface, this lets me summon a level 3 Water monster from my graveyard and I bring back Shark Stickers." A wave of water splashed onto the field with Shark Stickers emerging from it, "next I summon Double Shark," another shark appeared, this one had two heads sharing the one mouth it already had. "Since he was summoned, his effect activates, he becomes a level three," Shark continued, "now I overlay my two level three Water monsters so I can build the overlay network and XYZ Summon Black Ray Lancer!" A brand new sea creature appeared with its own staff, "but I'm not done yet, I activate the effect of XYZ Remora from my hand, I can summon him at the cost of detaching two overlay units from my Black Ray Lancer." Shark summoned XYZ Remora while the others saw his XYZ monster's overlay units being sent to the graveyard.

Kite watched him, "you're only setting yourself up for failure," he said, "there's nothing you can do to change that."

"Just watch me, I activate XYZ Remora's other effect, when he's summoned this way, I can summon two level 4 Water monsters from my graveyard but their effects will be negated, so I'll summon Spear Shark and Double Shark!" The other two sharks were revived and placed alongside XYZ Remora. "Now I'll overlay my three level 4 monsters, with these three I can build the overlay network and XYZ Summon Number 32: Shark Drake!" The giant sea serpent appeared and roared in triumph in front of Shark while everyone was amazed at his impressive summoning. "Now Shark Drake," commanded Shark, "attack his Constellar Omega!" The monster obeyed and struck Constellar Omega, destroying it in the process. "Since Shark Drake destroyed your monster in battle I can detach an overlay unit to revive your Omega with 1000 points weaker and attack it again, that should be enough to finish you off!" Shark Drake revived Constellar Omega and attacked it again. A big explosion was made and smoke filled the abandoned building, Rio clearly saw Kite still standing due to her not having her D-Gazer, "Reginald, he's-,

"It's over, Kite," Shark interrupted his sister, "now it's time to-what the…?"

Kite LP: 1000

"How could you still be standing?!" Shark couldn't believe it, Kite was still in the duel, that last attack should've ended it. Kite revealed his reason of his survival, "when you launched your attack," he started, "I activated the trap, Mirror Shade, I took no battle damage this turn and all I had to do was pay half of my life points, it's not over yet." Shark was ready to throw his D-Pad on the ground out of annoyance, he was so close yet came up so short. But Kite had nothing on his field while his was full, he remained confident.

"It's my move, I draw! I activate the spell Photon Sanctuary, this brings out two Photon Tokens in defense mode and they are unable to switch battle modes or attack." Everyone, except Rio, noticed that the tokens had 2000 attack each, "here it comes," Shark said, "since I have two Light monsters on the field," said Kite, "I can automatically summon from my hand Guardian of Order!" A golden knight emerged above them, it immediately switched color. This was another card given to him by Dr. Faker when he was working on his deck. "I'm not stopping there," Kite continued, "with the power of Light and Victory in the galaxies above I summon the scourge most feared, I sacrifice my tokens to summon Galaxy-Eyes Photon Dragon!" The magnificent dragon appeared before all except Rio, but just like before, the dragon struggled against the aura surrounding him. Shark was surprised at this, he didn't know that Galaxy-Eyes was in pain because of it.

"Kite, do you see what you're doing?!" Shark yelled, "you're hurting your own monster!"

"I don't know what you're talking about," Kite replied, "he's fine."

"Don't you see? You're hurting him, if you keep this up you might even lose _yourself_ to the Number!"

"I'm not losing myself to the Number, in fact, it's actually helping me win, it gives me what I desire, and I know it's also what Rio wants." He turned around to see Rio still shackled up behind him, Shark growled, "you leave her out of this," he warned him, "and that's another thing, ever since Skye and Connor, all I've been hearing about you was how much you want power and victory and for some reason you think that getting all of Yuma and Astral's Numbers are the way to get it. Even the actions you've been doing won't get you there."

"We're your friends, Kite," the Photon duelist turned around to see Rio talking, "_we're_ your power and whatever we accomplish together should be victory enough, don't you want that?" Kite looked at her, Rio pled to him not to let the Number take full control of him, he then shifted his focus on Yuma and Dextra, he then turned back to Shark.

Rio's words began to repeat in his mind, he quickly shook them off and continued his turn, "enough, _I'm_ in control now and there's _nothing_ you or anyone or anything you can do that will stop me!"

"Kite, don't!" Rio yelled but it was to no avail, Yuma, Dextra and Shark awaited what they feared, "I overlay Level 8 Guardian of Order and Galaxy-Eyes Photon Dragon!" Once again, Galaxy-Eyes struggled to avoid the summoning. They all saw it happen, Rio knew what was happening and even though she couldn't see the dragon, she could still feel its pain. "I won't have this happening again, now overlay, damn it!" Kite's command finally strengthened the aura and took Galaxy-Eyes under its control. "With these two lords of light, I build the overlay network and XYZ Summon the almighty and powerful Number 107: Galaxy-Eyes Tachyon Dragon!" The dragon landed before all, even Rio felt its presence. Shark saw the dragon, it's been a while since he's seen it up close, "you should've let that card stayed buried with the other over-hundred cards like I originally planned," Shark said, but he remembered that Kite earned it and keeping it from him would rob him the honor of his victory over Mizael.

Just then, the building started to shake and rubble started falling from the ceiling, the building was being destroyed! Yuma ran to the window and saw the construction crew already out and getting started on demolishing the neighborhood, starting with the house they were in.

"We have to get out of here!" Dextra ordered everyone but everyone was hesitant, they couldn't leave.

"I'll attack Shark Drake with my dragon," Kite ordered, "and as I'm doing so I activate my dragon's special ability, I'll detach an overlay unit to negate all of your monsters effects as long as they remain on the field, now attack!"

"Since you won't listen to reason then I'll have to deliver it to you the hard way," Shark countered, "from the graveyard I activate the effect of Friller Rabca!"

"How did he end up there?"

"Remember Number 47: Nightmare Shark? This was the monster I attached to him, and since you're attacking Shark Drake I can banish Friller Rabca from the game to not only stop your attack but your dragon also loses 500 attack points!" The dragon's attack was decreased and the attack was halted.

More debris started coming down hard, "c'mon!" yelled Yuma, "we've gotta' get outta' here or we'll be crushed!" Dextra was shielding her face while Rio tried to struggle out of her shackles, "OW!" Rio yelled, "Rio!" Shark called out to her, "are you alright?!"

"Yeah I'm okay, a rock just fell on my head, nothing serious," she turned to see the rock not far from her, she got an idea.

"You'll be done next turn," Shark said back to Kite through the mess, "your dragon is now weaker and he'll be easier to destroy next turn."

"There won't _be_ a next turn because I activate Number 107's other effect, when you activated Friller Rabca's effect during the turn I detached an overlay unit from him, I can increase his attack by 1000 extra attack points and have him attack again, this time with the help of the monster in my hand called Honest." An angel in bright light appeared from above, it was another card given to him by Dr. Faker. "He will increase my dragon's attack by the same amount as your Shark Drake's attack, add that to his current attack and what do you get?"

"That's-"

"Enough to claim your Numbers, it's over, Shark! Galaxy-Eyes Tachyon Dragon, attack Number 32: Shark Drake!" As the dragon made its way for the final attack more debris started falling and the alternate reality became unlinked. The three began to call for Rio as they tried to make it out of the building alive. Kite turned around and saw Rio breaking her shackles with a rock from the debris. She freed herself but didn't see Kite run up to her.

"Ohhh," he startled her, he held her close to him, his focus was on Shark, "give her back!" Shark yelled.

"This isn't over!" Kite yelled to him, he looked back at Rio, she unfortunately met his gaze and to her shock he threw her to Shark. Luckily he caught her, "are you alright?" he asked but Kite interrupted Rio's answer, "think about my offer," he said, "I'll be expecting your answer soon." His portal opened up behind him and he walked right through it and disappeared. "What was he talking about?!" Shark demanded but the rubble and debris interrupted him as they all ran out to safety.

From a close distance, a figure showed his face in the light, "he's getting stronger," Hart said, "but now I know what his weakness is, or _who_." He turned around to face his ride home, "let's go, Orbital." "Y-yes Master Hart."

Rio rested the whole copter ride home while Shark tended to her just in case. Everyone stayed silent, each planning their own way on how to defeat the Number's influence on Kite.

**To Be Continued…**

**A/N: I'm going to be giving you all a heads-up, my work schedule has changed and lately I've been coming home tired and almost never in the mood to start the new chapter. But seeing as how I don't want to abandon this story I've decided to stretch out the schedule for here. I'll still upload weekly chapters but just not on Wednesdays anymore, but instead either on Thursdays or Fridays. Seems like the better option, don't you think? Anyway I hope you enjoyed this update and I'll be back next week with another. Keep the reviews coming and new followers are always welcome, until next time!**


	10. Chapter 10

**Disclaimer: Let's welcome our new followers, Eclypse2012 and ThiefPhoenixGirl, glad you could join us; I hope you're enjoying the story so far. Now then, Kite didn't exactly defeat Shark but it's still not over for anyone, in fact, the best is yet to come. I feel so refreshed now, so many new ideas are ramming through my head. I'm enjoying this story so much, now on with it. I own nothing except the plot, unless they contact me and want to turn it into a storyline, which would be great, but then again what are the odds? Oh well, enjoy!**

**Chapter 10: Luck of the Number**

Rio slowly opened her eyes and saw Shark staring back at her. She quickly remembered her surroundings as she regained consciousness. Dextra was piloting the copter and Yuma was in the corner, looking out the window, he was too distracted with what just occurred that he didn't notice the younger Kastle sibling waking up. "Is everyone okay?" Rio asked her brother, "we barely made it out alive," Shark replied, "how are you holding up?" "I got hit in the head by a rock smaller than my fist, I think I'll manage."

"You also got kidnapped by-"

"I didn't get kidnapped," Rio interrupted him, "I stepped in front of Yuma so _he_ wouldn't have to face Kite, I was more than willing to take the risk of whatever would occur."

Shark turned away from her and shook his head, "you think you can save him all by yourself, Rio, this is something me and _Yuma_ should be taking care of, _you_ shouldn't even be involved!" Rio knew Shark would react this way, with him yelling at her over her safety she wasn't that intimidated by his temper as much, "he's my friend too," she retaliated, "and besides, you guys let Tori come along with you guys, what's wrong with having me to joining you?"

"Tori's had experience since day one," Shark told her, "and besides, she's got Yuma over there to watch over her since she does the same for all of us." Rio thought she had him there, "I've been with this team for a while now, I think you'd owe me at least a _little_ more trust and confidence when I'm by myself, _or _with someone else." That sparked something in the older Kastle's mind, "and that's another thing, what did Kite do to you?" Rio looked at him in confusion, "what? Nothing, why?"

"Kite said something about an offer that you had to think about, what was it?"

"Nothing."

"Don't lie to me."

"I'm not, it's nothing,"

"If it was nothing then why would he let you go just like that? Number Holders _never_ show that much compassion!"

Rio still refused to speak, she didn't want to depend on her brother when she knew she could take care of this on her own for the most part. "What did he do to you?!" Shark demanded once more. "NOTHING!" Rio shouted, "I'm telling you the truth, the only thing that happened was that Kite left to take care of something, someone named Charlie dueled him and that's all I can remember." Yuma snapped out of his trance, "that's not Kite," he said, everyone looked back at him except Dextra, "the Kite we know would never do such things, he hunted Numbers and punished their users with their souls, he's under the influence of something too much for him, that's not Kite, that's actually Number 107 taking control."

Shark shifted his focus on him, "remind me how I was when I was possessed by the Numbers." "You were brutal," Yuma answered, "but not like Number 107, if I didn't defeat you and break the influence then who knows _what_ you could've done." "But Kite didn't do anything wrong _per_ _se_," Rio pointed out, "all he told me was that he dueled Charlie and turned him over to the Heartland Police." This confused the boys, "Yuma, who is this Charlie guy?" Shark asked him.

"Charlie was this guy my dad, and especially my sister Kari used to be close with, I faced him back at the Carnival when he had Number 7: Lucky Straight. I remember beating him but I don't remember him being possessed by the Number."

"So he was his normal self then?" Dextra finally asked from the pilot's seat, "then why would Kite go after someone who wasn't even under a Number's influence?"

"I don't know," Yuma responded, "but I _do_ know that Kite never met him until now, I doubt they got to know each other better during their duel, but it should be pointed out that Charlie _was _kind of a thief."

"Maybe that's why Kite turned him over to the police," Rio said, "his past as a thief _does_ seem appropriate for him to turn him over to them." Yuma shook his head, "yeah but he had a good reason for it, his niece was sick in the hospital and needed all the help he could provide her, so he stole cards and other valuables and relied on Number 7 for luck."

"Wait," Shark halted everyone, "if I was reckless when I was possessed by the Numbers along with everyone else we've come across with, then why is Kite the only one who seems to be doing any _good _out of all of them? Compared to the rest at least." "He's right," Dextra pointed out, "even Nistro allied himself with a Barian when he was possessed by Number 54: Lion Heart, he didn't do any good while under the influence."

"Wait, think about it," Rio said, "Kite faced Skye and Connor when they mocked him and beat him, they even took Hart's card and still mocked him, and now he beat and turned over a street thief to the Heartland Police, I think I know what he's doing." "He's serving his own personal justice," Shark concluded, "then that means that-"

"Kite's still in there," Yuma finished his sentence, "he's still fighting Number 107's influence." Everyone nodded in agreement, "but Yuma," Astral, in what seemed like an eternity, emerged from the Emperor's Key, "remember, Charlie never gave us back that Number." Yuma's eyes widened in horror, "guys, Astral's right," he panicked, "if Kite, er-Number 107 is hunting Numbers, and if he faced Charlie for his then-"

"What are you saying?" Shark asked him.

"Charlie never gave us back Number 7: Lucky Straight!"

"Then that means that Kite got it from him, right?" Shark asked.

"I didn't see him come back with a new Number," Rio spoke out.

"That's because _Charlie_ doesn't have it either!" Yuma turned and shouted to Dextra, "we need to get to the Heartland Hospital now!"

…

"May," said an older woman with light-blue hair as she walked in, her eyes were getting a little teary, "I'm afraid I have some sad news…" she looked at the girl, her daughter May, sitting up in her hospital bed then looked at the direction the ill girl was staring at, the TV. "In other news," the news anchor reported, "petty thief, Charlie McCay was arrested earlier today, Heartland Police say they found him unconscious just right outside the station, worn out and terrified about 'a dragon,' Mr. McCay has been wanted by the Heartland Police for quite some time now..."

"Where is Uncle Charlie going?" May asked her mother, "is he going to come back?" Her mother wanted to tell her that he was but what mother would she be if she lied to her young daughter? "Your uncle is going away for a while," she said, "he's…moving to a special place…where that dragon won't get him."

"Will he be safe and sound?"

"Of course he will, dear, and we will visit him whenever we get the chance."

"I hope he has good luck in there," May said as she reached under her pillow and pulled out a Duel Monsters card, Number 7: Lucky Straight, "he always has good luck." Her mom reached over to her and hugged her, "I know he does," she then looked back at the TV screen and saw one last image of her brother in cuffs, "_Charlie, how could you_," she thought, "_I always told you that your gambling lifestyle would get you in trouble_, now_ what am I supposed to tell May?"_ Just then, they heard the nurses shouting outside, "I'm sorry, you can't come in here, please leave, you are disturbing the patients, I will call security!"

The door opened and in came Yuma, Dextra, Shark and Rio, "there she is!" pointed Yuma.

"Excuse me!" shouted May's mom, "but who are you and what are you all doing here?"

"I'm sorry ma'am but there's no time to explain," Shark told her, "so I'll ask you this quick and simple, has there been anyone in this room at all today?"

"Just me and the rest of you, why? What's going on?!"

On cue, a purple portal emerged in front of all of them, out stepped the possessed Kite. He glared at everyone until his focus shifted on to May who was still holding the Number card. The mother held her daughter tight while May whimpered at what they both just witnessed. "You're a lot smarter than I gave you credit for," Kite told them, "but not smart enough, you've managed to arrive here before I did because you led me here." Everyone gasped, "you followed us?" asked Dextra, "but why would you do that if you knew where the girl was?"

"How do you know my daughter?!" demanded May's mom, "what do you want with her?!"

Kite ignored her and shifted to Dextra, "when I found out McCay didn't have the Number he told me that he gave it to his niece," he said, "the cowboy puit up a good fight but he refused to give me his niece's location, so I turned him in." May's mom looked over to her daughter and saw the card she was still grasping, "you sent my brother to jail, why do you want this card so badly?" she asked him, "he stole it," he finally answered, "it's evil and will hurt the young girl's mind and soul so hand it over to me right now or she won't be safe."

"Uncle Charlie wouldn't steal!" May shouted at him, "stealing is wrong, he would never do that!" Kite looked at her, she wasn't letting that Number go, nor was she going to believe that her uncle was a thief. The possessed Photon duelist walked over to them, but before the mother could get in front of her daughter, Dextra halted him as she stood in his way. "Don't you dare take another step."

"Or what? What are _you_ going to do?" Kite glared at Dextra, she just stood there glaring back, "face it," he said, "you can't hurt me, you can _never_ hurt me, it's not in you." The butterfly duelist reached for her deck but her former colleague stopped her, "don't even bother, Dextra, that's another burden you wouldn't want to share with me." Dextra was offended, Kite took advantage of it and continued to walk past her until he had a full view of the Number card. "Stay away from my daughter!" yelled May's mom, "leave us alone!"

Kite was close enough, he didn't need to go up to them. He saw the girl and her mother shaking in horror, "don't worry, I'm here," comforted the mother, "I'm here, I won't let him hurt you."

"You wouldn't dare, Number 107!" Yuma shouted at him.

"What did you just call me?!" Kite asked furiously.

"You heard me, that's your name, and if you were Kite then you wouldn't even _consider_ dueling a little girl who's already sick!" The Photon duelist shifted his focus back to the scared mother and daughter, he began to raise his hand. The others watched, hoping he wouldn't go through with it, "_I know he's still in there_," Yuma thought, "_if he can fight it off then we might have a chance._" Kite's aura increased and his eyes changed to crimson red while May and her mom awaited their unfortunate fate. His hand was raised, "Ph-"

In a split second, everything just stopped. Kite halted himself, his eyes widened in shock and took a small step back. His close position was getting to him because he saw how terrified May was, the poor girl had a few tears coming down, she was not far from becoming hysterical. He almost freaked from the sight but he didn't have time to question any second thoughts because-

"Alright, I'll do it Kite, I accept!

Everyone else turned around and saw Rio stepping forward. As if time just resumed, Kite, along with everyone else realized what just happened. "Rio…?" Yuma whispered, "what did you say?" Shark asked her.

"I said I accept," Rio confirmed, "I'll join you Kite, but please spare them," she pointed to a still-scared May and her mother.

Kite shook himself out of his trance, "you've accepted my offer," he said.

"_This_ is the offer?!" Shark asked furiously, "why would you even consider it?!" Rio turned around, "because all this time _you_'_ve _been treating me like a little girl!" Rio yelled at him, "I'm tired of this, Reginald, when is it going to be _my_ turn to be on top? When am I ever going to beat you in a duel? When am I ever going to get anyfreedom? When am I even going to _do something?!_" Shark was extremely offended, he and his sister always have arguments and they usually settled them in a due but right now, no amount of duels would resolve this situation. He stared at her and noticed a suggestive hint in her eye that shocked him even more. Rio turned around and stood alongside Kite, "prove it," he said to her abruptly, "what?" Rio asked him surprisingly, "what do you mean?"

"Prove to me your loyalty."

Rio didn't know what to do, the only way she could prove to him without breaking her cover was either duel Shark and beat him without looking back or take Number 7: Lucky Straight from May. Both were near impossible tasks but if she didn't do one or the other then the Ice Queen would really be in trouble. With no other choice, Rio walked over to May and her mom, "I'm sorry," she whispered to them, "but I have to do this." May looked at her eyes, "_maybe Uncle Charlie _did_ steal this_," she thought, "_maybe he stole this to help me, what would he do?"_ She looked around the room, that's when she recognized most of the faces there, Yuma, Shark and Kite, she remembered seeing them on TV during the World Duel Carnival. May looked back to Kite and saw that a lot of him changed, "_if Uncle Charlie did things he didn't want to do to help someone who needed it then I would too_." She consented and slowly handed Rio her Number card.

"Don't give it to him!" Dextra yelled to Rio, "why are you doing this?" Everyone continued to 'play along' as Rio continued to walk to Kite and handed him the card. They stared into each other's eyes, Shark growled, he wanted to stop her but Rio stood in between her brother and new partner so he wouldn't.

"My work here is done," Kite said, "but next time, I'm coming for the both of you," he pointed to Yuma and Shark, "looks like we might have that duel between the three of us after all." Rio moved a little closer to her possessed friend but took a small step behind him as he continued to mock the other two. "Or maybe I'll have Rio face you instead," Kite turned to face the Ice Queen with his crimson eyes, she took another step back due to those eyes, they still terrified her.

"You won't get away with this, Number 107," Yuma said, "we'll bring Kite back no matter what it takes!"

"And I'll make you pay for corrupting my sister!" Shark shouted at him, "all the Numbers scattered across the universe won't save you from us!"

"Is that a risk you're willing to take?" Kite asked, "I have more power than the both of you combined, you don't stand a chance." His portal opened up behind him, the sudden appearance spooked Rio as she jumped back and nearly clung onto Kite's shoulder. Dextra and Shark noticed and were not happy about it, "we'll meet again," the possessed duelist stated, "so prepare for your demise, I promise to make it quick." He turned to face Rio who finally realized that he wanted her to go through the portal first, Rio looked at the unknown hole and was skeptical in going through it but she slowly walked up to it and walked right in. The others watched, whatever Rio's plan was, they all had to trust her and hope Kite wouldn't see through her cover. "Don't worry, Shark, I'll take good care of her," Kite said as he made his way to his portal, "after all, it's time you let her go, besides, _someone_ had to open her eyes." He laughed manically, "you…_monster!"_ Shark cursed as he ran towards him but the portal closed and he ended up running through thin air.

"I'm sorry for the disturbance," Dextra apologized to May and her mom, "we'll try to make things right again soon." They said their goodbyes and left, "Shark, please just trust her," Yuma told his friend, "I know she can be young and naïve but still, if you don't let her do things on her own then she'll never know what it's _like_ to learn from mistakes."

"I'll judge that if her little plan works," Shark replied, "I allowed for it to happen so I better not regret it."

As they walked outside, Orbital 7, in his glider mode, had Hart strapped in him just right outside the hospital window, "I'll keep a close eye on them," he said, "I hope Rio's plan works too, but just in case, I have one of my own too." The robot flew them both off, awaiting for the next mission.

**To be continued…**

**A/N: I feel so alive! First let me get to what you probably noticed about this chapter, Kite's appearance was a little, well…minor, while the others had their appearance earlier and throughout the chapter but hey, that's story development and I know how much you guys love it when I deliver that to you. I finished this right on time just like I hoped. As always I hope you enjoyed this chapter, leave your reviews and I'll be back with another update next week, until then!**


	11. Chapter 11

**Disclaimer: I own nothing except the plot, enjoy!**

**Chapter 11: Caught In-Between**

"So what do we do now?" Yuma asked Shark, who was still bitter over Rio's plan, "do we just wait until another Number pops up?" Shark looked at him, "I don't know, Yuma," he replied, "I'm trying not to worry about her, but not worrying and staying calm at the same time were never my strongest habits."

"She'll be fine," Yuma assured him.

"As far as _we_ know, we only saw her until she walked in the portal," Shark responded.

"If anyone can get to Kite, it's Rio."

"That's what I'm worried about."

…

Kite stood over a building looking over the ongoing events and people walking by, Rio on the other hand stood not far behind him. "Look at them," he told her, "they don't know what life has in store for them, some will succeed…then some will fail." Rio winced at his bogus negativity, at least his eyes weren't glowing in that crimson color. "What's first?" she asked Kite, "I know that my brother and Yuma still have their Numbers so I'm to assume you'll hunto to for more before facing them?"

"One hour under my guidance and already you're catching up," Kite said, impressed, "except this time, _you_ will be the one to get the next Number." Rio nearly gasped, "and if you manage to win, which you will," Kite continued, "I might let you keep it, it will help you get stronger than Shark." The Ice Queen pretended to ponder, how was she going to get out of this one? "But I already got your Number 7: Lucky Straight," she pointed out, "didn't that prove my loyalty to you?" Kite walked up to her, "this is what you do when you work alongside me," he crept closer to her and Rio backed up a little, "if you worked _for_ me instead I'd make you hunt them all by yourself in one day!" The Photon duelist was getting a little aggravated as his aura started acting up. Rio noticed his eyes changing color, she didn't want him to see her look away in fright as that would make him suspicious, instead she did the first thing that came to mind.

"Ummm…you're…cute when you're angry?"

She wanted to smack herself for that. She panicked, that was her only excuse. What else could she do?. Surprisingly, this stopped Kite's aura and he backed off a little bit, "wh-what did you say?" he asked her in an angry tone but Rio quickly switched everything around before he could question her anymore. "Relax," she told him, trying to pass off her remark as a silly nothing, "if you want me to get us more power then that can be arranged, but you're gonna' have to find them first."

"What do you mean?"

"I can sense Barian energy but you seem to be doing a good job hunting Numbers, you find them and I'll take it from there."

Kite smirked, he reached for his deck box and pulled out Number 107: Galaxy-Eyes Tachyon Dragon, "if you can sense Barian power then you can sense _these_."

…

Dextra walked down the halls of Heartland Tower, there was so much going on it was starting to get too much for her. What started as a visit to old friends had turned into a manhunt, this started to open up old wounds. She noticed that she was right in front of Kite's room, those wounds started hurting again. She walked inside and looked around, the place was trashed, that's when she noticed that no one has entered the room since that one night. "I wanted to help him," she said to herself, "I wanted to save him but how? How when _she's_ always getting in the way!"

The butterfly duelist thought about Rio hanging on to Kite, doing everything that Dextra couldn't accomplish back at the Carnival. She remembered back when Orbital arrived with Rio's face on the screen, her smug, happy-go-lucky face aggravated her, "she doesn't love him," she said angrily, "she _doesn't _love him, not like I do, she's just a smuggy little girl! Why does she feel like doing all that for him?! I've been watching over him my whole life!" She punched the nearest wall in fury, "don't act like you care, you brat," she snapped, "you don't love Kite, not like I do!"

"Then where does that leave me?" a voice on her left stated, Dextra turned around and saw Nistro standing by the doorway with a forearm brace on his right arm. Dextra stood there speechless, "you didn't answer my question," Nistro said as he walked up to her, "if you love Kite so much then _where_ does that leave me?" Embarrassed, the butterfly duelist turned her gaze away from him, Nistro scowled, "I thought you were over him," he told her, "I…I thought I was too," she replied.

"Well then where does that leave _us_?"

"Us?"

"Yeah, _us_," Nistro grabbed her hand and held it in his, "I thought we had something Dextra, but now I can see what changed that." He let go of her hand and let it drop, "I knew bringing you here was a bad idea."

"Nistro…"

"Yuma told me over the phone what was going on with Kite and Faker called not long after with the same news. He requested for _me_ to show up, he didn't say anything about _you_ because he knew how you would react, especially when I told him about us." Dextra was shocked, "I didn't want you coming here without me," she said, "I didn't want you to run into any danger, you know Heartland City is full of it!"

"Bullshit!" Nistro snapped, "now I know why you insisted to Faker on coming, you used this trip as an excuse to see your precious Kite, and you used _me_ for the whole ride here!"

"That's not true!"

"Is it?! I've seen the way you acted when we met up with him, the look on your face and the vibe you'd give out whenever that Kastle girl was around him, I should've asked you why it mattered to you so much and now I can see why, you were _never_ over Kite no matter how many times it's been said to you!"

"Try to understand, he's been through so much, me _and_ him, you know that!"

"I see you've forgotten about me _once_ _again_! I know you both have been through a lot, _I was there with you!"_

There was silence, Dextra couldn't find any more words to say, and this time she thought she might never talk again. "When we faced Yuma," he resumed, "I saved you from an attack that would've hurt you." Dextra remembered that day, she also remembered the disappointment she felt after they left that duel, "you know why I faced Kite when I saw the Number on him?" Nistro asked, Dextra stayed silent just as he expected, "I knew I wouldn't stand a chance against him but I couldn't just stand there and not do anything."

He started walking away from her, "but I faced him anyway because I didn't want him coming after you, I've done so much for you and the least you can do is show me at least a _shred_ of appreciation!" The guilt started to consume Dextra, how could she be so selfish about her old needs when she already had someone giving them to her? Her 'schoolgirl crush,' as Vetrix called it, should've died out by now. Dextra tried catching up to Nistro, "Nistro," she called out to him, "where are you going?"

"I'm goin' back to Spartan City," he answered.

"But I haven't packed yet," she said, "I'm not ready."

"I know, I'm leaving _without_ you." Dextra had the look of hurt smacked on her face, "I called for the copter while you were still out," Nistro continued, "I'm goin' back alone, if you wish to join me there then our relationship will strictly be professional, and nothin' more."

"You don't mean that."

"I do and until you realize how Kite feels about you and you deal with your feelings then I have no business bein' here, goodbye Dextra, and good luck." Nistro walked out and down the halls, he half-expected for Dextra to run up to him and plead for him to stay but the fact that he made it far away from where he left her told him that that wasn't happening.

…

Nistro walked up to the launch pad where the copter was waiting for him, Dr. Faker was there to see him off. "How did it go with her?" he asked him, "I noticed she isn't here with you so I take it she's staying?" Nistro nodded, "I really do care about her, a lot, but who am I to stand in the way of something that was never resolved?" He turned to Faker, "I'm sorry I wasn't much help, doctor," he apologized.

"Nonsense," Faker said, "your assistance here was minor but proven useful, thank you for coming here."

"And thank you for having me here, next time I return it'll be on better terms." Nistro headed toward the copter until he turned his head to face Faker, "tell Yuma that I left and to keep me updated on everything here, good luck!" Nistro walked inside the copter and waved at the doctor one more time. Dr. Faker nodded at him as he saw the copter fly off, "if it wasn't for me and Mr. Heartland," Faker said to himself, "he, Dextra and Kite wouldn't be in this dramatic triangle."

…

Dextra took all in what just transpired, Nistro pretty much broke up with her, but from the way the Heroic duelist acted she might as well dumped _him_. Still, he was right, she couldn't leave without completing what she promised herself years ago. "I _will_ help save you, Kite," she angrily said, "even if it means losing the people in my life, I'm keeping my promise.".

…

Kite and Rio arrived in a secluded area that was once his hideout. It was pretty dark but not too small, it was big enough to fit them in and walk around, although Kite would be the one leaving the place should case be while Rio would be doing the walking. "Stay here," Kite ordered, "why? Are you going somewhere?" Rio asked him, "there's a gang running an area not far from here and I heard their captains are named Scorch and Chills." Rio heard of those names before, they were boys who were running the gang her brother once joined. "Are you going to duel them?" she asked him, "somebody has to," he replied, "their crimes cannot go unpunished and they haven't gone unnoticed from me." He opened his portal to head to his destination, "stand guard for anything, I'll take care of them". When he disappeared, Rio started walking through her plan.

…

The gang's hangout was by the highway just underneath the bridge, the boys were spray-painting the walls and blasting their music and talking profanity. What shut them all up was the sudden purple portal that appeared before them. "What the Hell is this?!" shouted Scorch, "look," pointed Chills and the rest of their gang shifted their sight at the Photon duelist Kite walking out of it. "Who are you and what are you doin' here?!" demanded Chills, their gang was slowly backing away, they've never seen anything like this.

"I am here to make you all pay," Kite said ominously, "and I will start with the both of you!" He pointed to the two boys.

"Oh yeah?! Well who's gonna' make us? There's a dozen of us and only one of you!"

"I like those odds."

"Well if that's the case then if you want us then come get us!"

Kite stepped forward but a few brave gang members stepped up to block his way, "but first," called out Chills, "you'll have to get past _them_! So give it your best shot!"

Kite smirked, "with pleasure."

…

Shark was at home, Yuma didn't want him there by himself so he and Tori joined him and decided to spend the night there. Even though he preferred to be alone, he saw no difference as to when Rio was there. The Water duelist sat in his couch while Yuma sat in another, Tori was in the kitchen cooking up something for them to eat. The aroma made its way to where the boys were at. Yuma could practically eat the scent, Shark looked at him, "I'll admit, she seems like a keeper."

Yuma looked at him confused, "who's a keeper? Tori?"

Shark rolled his eyes, "almost forgot who I was talking to."

Tori then walked into the room with a plate of food for all three of them to enjoy. "Hey Tori," Yuma said to her, "this looks great, smells good too." They young duelist stared at the food like it was treasure, this caused the green-haired girl to grow a little devious smile, "well you know," she said, "I _do_ serve it with an appetizer."

"Really?!" Yuma's eyes widened, "what is it?" Tori leaned over to him and kissed his cheek, "sugar," she giggled. Now it was Yuma's turn to return the favor, so he dipped a fingertip into the sauce that came along with the dish Tori served them and wiped it across his face, "I think you missed a spot," he sheepishly pointed out. Tori retaliated by playfully smacking him. Shark witnessed the whole thing, he saw how much fun they were having, "_yeah,_" he thought, "_definitely a keeper._" But his thoughts were interrupted when he saw them turn into that of Kite and Rio on the couch laughing together. He quickly shook those thoughts out of his head and immediately started eating just to keep himself from making an outburst. "_My eyes are just tricking me, yeah, _that's_ what it is."_

…

Rio finished walking through her plan and decided that since Kite was still gone then now was the perfect opportunity to contact her friends and brother about where they are and how they're doing. Her plan was to fool Kite into thinking that she betrayed them, she would earn his trust and take back the Numbers to hopefully bring him back to his former self. If she could do that then his power would weaken out, and maybe, just maybe, she'd get ahold of Number 107 and be rid of the evil Number for good. It wasn't that much of a clever plan but the fact that he asked her to join him in the first place made it seem like it, so she took the advantage.

Rio reached for her D-Gazer to contact everyone but right away realized something, "he destroyed my D-Gazer!" she pouted, she forgot to pick up a spare but she never made it home so she was stuck once again. But as luck would have it, the window broke and in flew an object wrapped it cloth. Rio was startled over the impact and looked outside to see who was the one responsible. "This place really _is_ dangerous," she said to herself, "what is it?" She walked up to the object and picked it up. The Ice Queen unwrapped it and saw a blue D-Gazer that still worked! She ran back to the broken window, "thank you…whoever you are!" she activated it and tried making contact with Shark.

Outside in the air floated Hart and Orbital 7, "why couldn't you just contact everyone else yourself, M-Master Hart?" The younger Tenjo brother turned to the robot, "because she will need Kite's old Duel Gazer now more than ever, it's all part of my plan." The two then flew off waiting for the next step in his plan, "if she can contact them before Kite returns then her plan would work," Hart pointed out, "she always said that she wanted to handle things on her own so she wouldn't be used for anyone to get to Shark. She's protecting her brother, just like me."

Rio finally made contact with Shark, "Reginald?! It's me!"

"_Rio_?_ Where are you_?!"

"I'm not sure, it looks like a demolished church."

"_How did y_-"

"Listen! I don't have much time so I'll make this quick, if you want to stop Kite from the outside then start checking up on criminals, basically anyone who's wronged or done _some_ kind of crime in Heartland, if you can do that then you'll be one step ahead of him!"

"_But why_?!"

"Just do it! Take care of this on the outside and I'll watch over him on the insi-" Rio gasped, she felt something, "I have to go, he's coming!"

"_Who's coming_? _Rio_? _Rio_?!" The Ice Queen hung up and turned around just in time to see a purple portal forming before her, Kite stepped out of it. "Back so soon?" Rio asked calmly, "that took even _less_ time than I expected." Kite opened his mouth to say something but was interrupted when he heard ringing, "what is that noise?" he asked her, Rio blushed a little when she realized that not only was the D-Gazer ringing but vibrating as well, making the vibration noise. Kite followed the noise and concluded that it was coming out from behind is new subordinate, "I didn't know you make that kind of sound," he said sarcastically, "what other surprises do you have for me?" He walked closer to her as the Gazer continued ringing, Rio steadily backed up, "_Dammit, Reginald!"_ she thought, "_I am _so_ going to get you for this!"_

"What is that behind your back, Rio?!" Rio refused to show him the device despite knowing full well that he knew what it was too. She tried to hide it off but it still rung and vibrated, "_is he _ever_ going to _stop_?!"_ Kite backed up and calmed down, then his gaze met hers, "Photon Hand!" Kite's ability reached for Rio's arm and jerked it out from behind, the poor girl almost lost balance when the D-Gazer fell out in the open where the Photon duelist saw it in plain sight. Rio stared at it too and then looked up to meet Kite's gaze once more, his aura acted up again along with his crimson eyes. Rio had enough, "I won't fear you anymore Number 107!" she yelled, "I promised I wouldn't let anyone use me to get to my friends." Kite's aura only increased by every passing word as Rio continued, "if you want Yuma and Reginald's Number so bad then go get them, but since you already have me you'll have to go _through_ me!"

The possessed Kite ran up to Rio and cornered her to a wall, she did not look away from his eyes, those eyes she feared so much no longer had that big of an effect on her. Her plan was ruined and now she had to face him by herself, he looked down on her until his forehead touched her. Rio started to blush again and even noticed that Kite was too, the heat from him started to cool down until he noticed this and shook himself off, "you'll pay for that," he said. The Gazer started ringing again and Kite looked at it once more and made a grab for it.

…

"C'mon Shark, leave her alone!"

"Shut up, Yuma, it's for her own good!"

Yuma and Shark struggled for his D-Gazer to stop him from continually calling her, the first time they heard from her and Shark couldn't contain his anxiety any longer.

"I have to know if she's okay!"

"What if Kite comes in while you're talking again? What then?!"

Shark's Gazer rang, "she's calling back," he said, he answered but to his shock it wasn't the voice he was expecting.

"_Alright, listen up, both of you_!" yelled an extremely furious Kite, "_I'm giving you until tomorrow to hand over your Number cards or I'll feed your little spy to my Tachyon Dragon_!" Kite brought over Rio to get the two boys's attention.

"_Reginald_!" Rio yelled, "_don't do what he says, I'll take care of this myself_!"

"Let her go, you maniac!" Shark was losing his mind, "alright fine! If you want my Numbers so bad then take them just let my sister go!"

Kite shifted his satisfied focus to Yuma, "_and you, do you want to 'feel the flow' with this on your conscience_?" Yuma growled, "I didn't think you'd ever go this far, Number 107!" he told him, Kite shook his head, "_again with that, you really think I'm being possessed_?! _Just meet me where you saw Fortuno, we'll be there tomorrow_."

"We'll face you then!" roared Shark, "but if you so much as-"

"_Shut up, Shark_! _I wouldn't want to hurt our prize for our duel_," Kite taunted as he stroked Rio's hair causing her brother to nearly crush his own D-Gazer, "_after all, she is the Ice Queen, quite valuable and precious…like a diamond_!" The call was disconnected and Shark collapsed on the couch, he stayed calm, "Yuma," he said, "get ready, we're dueling for _two_ people now!" Yuma nodded, "then let's get prepared, let's practice-duel so we can finally put an end to Number 107's chaos for good!"

There was a knock on Shark's door, "who could that be at this time of night?" Tori asked, Yuma walked over and opened the door, "Hart? Orbital?" Shark and Tori joined them and saw the younger Tenjo brother and the robot, "what are you guys doing here?"

"I know how to get Kite and Rio back," he said.

"Really?" Yuma asked, "how are we gonna' do that?"

"_I _will do that," Hart corrected, the others looked at him confused, "I have a plan, but I need your Number cards first."

…

Kite crushed his old D-Gazer as Rio watched then he turned back to face her, "you should work on that habit," she said sarcastically, "that's the second one you've destroyed." Kite was starting to get annoyed, "you can never stay quiet for a few seconds, can you?" he asked her, "I should've known better than to trust you, but then again at least I'm getting more Numbers, so thank you for helping me." He crept up closer to her, "goodnight, Rio." Rio didn't move a muscle, she didn't want to risk getting more worked up than he already was. Kite mysteriously kissed her on her forehead and the next thing Rio knew she was out cold.

…

Yuma, Shark and Tori ran towards the church-looking building where Kite's hideout used to be. Kite stood there waiting, "where's my sister?!" yelled Shark, Kite responded by looking up in the sky, the others followed and saw Rio tied up and dangling above them from a crane! Shocked but determined, Shark looked back at the possessed duelist and noticed that Kite was still looking up at Rio, but from where Kite was standing, Shark knew what he was looking at.

"HEY! Eyes down here!"

Kite smirked, "looks like someone woke up a little grumpy, allow me to take the pain away! Go Photon Transformation!" His entire clothing changed to his white attire but quickly changed color into crimson red, "ready?" he asked them, "change of plans, Number 107," Yuma called out to him, "if you want our Numbers then you'll have to face the one who _has_ them!"

"What are you talking about?"

A flying object soared through the sky until it landed in front of Kite, "Hart?! Orbital?!"

Hart pulled out his deck and slid it in the deck slot of his D-Pad, "I have your Numbers, Kite," he said, "and if you want them then you'll have to face _me_ for them!"

**To be continued…**

**A/N: Kite vs. Hart, brother vs. brother, would he go through with it? I can't wait! And I know you guys can't either so look alive for next week's update for Kite and Hart's duel! R&R and I'll be back next week!**


	12. Chapter 12

**Disclaimer: Alright, this is it! We're finally here, Kite vs. Hart! Who will win? I think the real question here is will it matter? Let's find out. I'd like to thank my three favorite reviewers for helping me keep this story alive, I think this fic will probably be my most popular, so thanks you three! I own nothing so enjoy part 1!**

**Chapter 12: Seeing the Light, Part 1**

"Go home, Hart, it's not safe here," Kite warned his brother who just arrived with Orbital, "just give me the Numbers and go somewhere safe."

"I'm not going anywhere without my brother," Hart responded, "Yuma and Shark are your friends and they're willing to risk their numbers just to get you back too."

"Just go, Hart, I don't want to have to-"

"Well I do, and if you want more power then try getting a victory over me," Hart looked at his D-Pad with his deck already inside, "I'm giving you a choice, give back the Numbers and I'll get out of your way or you can hold on to them and face me for the ones I have."

Kite never had an ultimatum this difficult, his own brother not only was challenging him to a duel but was giving him the lesser of two evils. He looked over at his deck box where the Numbers were in, he winced, "I can't, I need them." Hart shook his head, "then you leave me no choice," he said, "you've been going too far for too long, my brother, and now I have to stop you." He readied his D-Gazer and the reality link was established, "let's duel!"

Shark and Yuma looked on as the younger Tenjo boldly took on his Number-possessed brother, "if this fails," Shark said, "I'll never forgive myself for letting him do this." "I've seen his deck," Yuma told him, "I don't know if it'll be strong enough to face Kite but maybe beating him head-on won't be the issue here."

"Please Hart, don't do this," Kite pleaded for his brother to turn around and leave the dueling to the older boys, "I don't want to hurt you," but despite his pleas his aggressive mentality surfaced and his aura increased. "You've already hurt me," he said looking up at the dangling Rio then back to Yuma and Shark, Kite followed his gaze on all directions, "you've hurt everyone."

"No I didn't!" Kite's aura completed its full power, "I did what I had to do, I did what _anyone_ would do, I duel to let everyone know who I am, not who I _was_, I duel to hurt those who've done wrong and deserve whatever comes to them, I duel…TO WIN!"

Hart still stayed in his calm state but his facial expression turned to a bold scowl, he now knew that he was losing his brother more and more to the Number, "well what's more important, winning, or the people who care about you?" Kite stayed silent, Hart wasn't wasting any more time, "I'm getting my brother back," he said, "and you're _not_ going to stop me!"

"I warned you, Hart, and I'll show you why I did."

Kite LP: 4000

Hart LP: 4000

"I'll go first," Kite announced, "I draw!" he looked at his hand and was not amused, "this hand is almost terrible, I can hardly do anything!" He took a few seconds until he realized what he could do with what he had, "I summon Photon Sabre Tiger!" A blue sabre tiger appeared and immediately succumbed to the Tachyon power as it changed color, "next I activate its special ability, when he's summoned I can add another Photon Sabre Tiger from my deck to my hand." Another card was added to Kite's hand, "next I activate the quick-play spell Photon Lead, this will summon the Sabre Tiger from my hand to the field." Everyone noticed that both Sabre Tigers were out and right away knew what was coming next, "I overlay my two Photon Sabre Tigers so I can build the Overlay Network and XYZ Summon Number 17: Leviathan Dragon!" A blue dragon appeared and roared at its summoning."

"That was the first one to possess me," Shark stated, "it's even more menacing than before!"

"Hart can take care of it," Yuma told him, "I hope he can," just then his D-Gazer vibrated, Yuma answered, "Dextra? Is everything okay? Where's Nistro?"

"He…left," Dextra replied, "he went back to Spartan City, what is going on over there?"

"Kite and Hart are about to Duel!"

"What? Alright listen, I found your coordinates and I'll be right over there in a bit but I also did some research about the Numbers from the Barian World, Yuma, I don't think you will like this."

"We need to know, tell me!"

"From what I just researched, getting Kite back to his normal self is near impossible, the same way Numbers are nearly indestructible while Dueling, a Number-possessed individual as strong as Kite will be even worse to overcome!"

Yuma growled, "we can't give up on him," he told her, "right now, Hart's our only chance in getting him back."

"I activate his effect," Kite continued, "by detaching an Overlay Unit I can boost Leviathan Dragon's attack points by 500 making him 2500!" The dragon absorbed the Overlay Unit and increased in power, "I place two cards face-down and I end my turn," Kite finished his turn and they all awaited Hart to go next.

"Alright Number 107, I draw!" Hart looked at his hand and wasted no time in starting his turn, "since you have a monster and I have none on my field I can summon Hieratic Dragon of Tefnuit from my hand!" A huge gold and silver dragon emerged from the card and roared for battle. "It's beautiful," Tori commented on Tefnuit's appearance, "it almost looks like treasure." The possessed Kite shielded his eyes from the bright dragon, "next I'll tribute Tefnuit," continued Hart, "so I can summon Hieratic Dragon of Su!" Now a gold and blue dragon appeared before them as the other one disappeared, "since Tefnuit was tributed I can summon a normal dragon-type monster from either my hand, deck, or graveyard so from my deck I summon Luster Dragon Number 2!" A green dragon appeared before them and roared for battle.

The duel continued, "I activate Su's special effect, I can tribute a Hieratic monster from my hand to destroy a spell or trap card on your field and I'll choose the one on the left!" Hart sent Hieratic Dragon of Eset to the graveyard and destroyed what appeared to be Dimensional Prison Kite set earlier, "now that my Eset was tribute I can activate his effect to summon Alexandrite Dragon from my deck." A smaller dragon appeared, it too was gold and very beautiful according to Tori, "I overlay my two level six Luster Dragon Number 2 and Hieratic Dragon of Su so I can build the overlay network and XYZ Summon Hieratic Dragon King of Atum!" This new dragon shocked everyone with its beauty, the brightness only made Kite shield his eyes more and more, "why is his deck full of light bulbs?!" he yelled.

"I activate Atum's special ability," Hart announced, he really wasn't holding back, "by detaching an Overlay Unit I can summon a dragon from my deck at the cost of dropping his attack points to zero along with Atum not being able to attack this turn."

"Not good, Hart!" Yuma exclaimed, "your monsters are too weak go up against Leviathan Dragon, please tell us you have a plan!" Hart smirked at Yuma's antics, "of course I do," he replied, "if I didn't then I wouldn't have come prepared." He shifted his focus back to the duel, next I'll Normal Summon Hieratic Dragon of Gebeb." Kite once again shielded his eyes from the brightness of the new dragon his brother summoned, "I'll overlay my level four Alexandrite Dragon and Gebeb so I can build the overlay network once again to XYZ Summon Queen Dragun Djinn!" A fiery Dragon appeared and stood alongside Atum, "I'm still not done yet!" Hart announced, "I activate Queen Dragun's effect, I'll detach an Overlay Unit so I can revive Hieratic Dragon of Su from the Graveyard at the cost of having its effects negated and unable to attack!"

"You can't attack me this turn anyway!" Kite snapped, "you're using all of your resources just to spread the field with weak dragons!"

"Then let me introduce you to what you've been waiting for," Hart snapped back, "I overlay Hieratic Dragon King of Atum so I can build the overlay network one more time and XYZ Summon Gaia Dragon the Thunder Charger!" A colorful dragon with a knight riding on top of it emerged and floated over them, "2600 attack points?" Kite was baffled, "he's stronger than my dragon!" "That's right," Hart said, "now Gaia Dragon, attack Number 17!" The colored dragon went for the attack but didn't destroy it, "even though he's not a Number," Hart said, "you still take the damage."

Kite LP: 3900

"I place one card facedown and end my turn," Hart finished his turn, "it's your move."

Kite barely flinched at the damage he took, he was more concerned at how the duel started. He barely had any cards to back him up and his Numbers were on the line, he needed to fight back, but against his brother, was it really worth it? "It's my turn, I draw!" He looked at the card he drew and proceeded his turn, "I activate Desperate Scrape, this spell card allows me to give up 800 of my life points to halve your Gaia Dragon's attack points!"

Kite LP: 3100

The spell took effect but was halted, "I activate the trap, Hieratic Seal of Reflection," Hart countered, "this negates your Desperate Scrape's effect at the cost of tributing Su!" Kite was about to counter his brother's argument but Hart interrupted him, "this will trigger his effect since it activates in Graveyard and not on the field making Queen Dragun's effect wear off." Everyone stared in amazement, "now that Su was tributed I can summon another Luster Dragon Number 2 from my deck at the cost of dropping his attack points to zero!" The familiar dragon appeared and the brightness proved too much for Kite, "I lost life points for nothing, he still has the upper hand," Kite said angrily, "I can't lose, I need that power!" He shifted his focus back to his turn, "I activate Leviathan Dragon's effect again, I'll detach an Overlay Unit to boost his attack by another 500 making his attack 3000 points!" The Number increased its power as everyone started to worry about Hart's safety, "it's not too late to back down now, little brother," Kite told him, "I'm giving you the chance to walk out, just give me the Number cards and everything will be okay."

"You're _not_ my brother!" Hart yelled at him, "my brother wouldn't do any of the things you've done! He would never make the girl he likes put her own well-being in danger or put his friends to suffering from his wrath, I _will _stop you no matter the risks!"

"What girl?!" Yelled Shark but everyone seemed to ignore him.

"So be it," Kite said, ignoring everything, "Leviathan Dragon, attack Queen Dragun!" The dragon did as it was told and destroyed the fiery dragon.

Hart LP: 3200

Hart fell back from the impact he felt, he dusted himself off and looked on, "I end my turn," Kite said.

"I draw," Hart drew his card and began his next turn, "I activate Book of Moon, this allows me to switch Leviathan Dragon's battle mode to facedown defense." Kite growled as his Number was flipped facedown, "if Number 17 is facedown then his indestructability won't be able to work!"

Hart continued his turn, "I activate the spell Hieratic Seal of Supremacy, this allows me to summon Hieratic Dragon of Asar from my hand!" This dragon was orange and green but not as brightly colored as the others. "It's over Number 107!" Hart steadied himself, "Gaia Dragon attack Number 17: Leviathan Dragon!" Within a few seconds the Number was destroyed but damage was still inflicted to Kite as he fell back from the impact.

Kite LP: 500

"Leviathan Dragon was in defense mode, how did I lose life points?" he demanded, "Gaia Dragon can pierce right through monsters in defense mode and inflict the difference to you as damage," Hart informed him, "that's why I didn't detach any of his Overlay Units." Kite could feel his heart hurting, he was losing power! His body felt weak and he began to stumble a little.

"Yuma, look!" Astral emerged from the Emperor's Key, "huh? Astral! You're all better?!" Yuma exclaimed as he saw his floating friend looking good as new.

"Yes, but I'm afraid Number 107 doesn't feel the same." He pointed at Kite and Yuma and Shark took notice, "his influence must be wearing off," Shark claimed, "then that means if Hart attacks him again this turn then Kite will come back to us!" Yuma yelled out, "do it Hart!"

"Hieratic Dragon of Asar, attack his life points directly!" The dragon went for the final blow, "I activate the trap card Destiny Break!" Kite explained the effects of his card, "this allows me to draw a card and if it's a monster then your attack is negated but if it's not then your attack goes through and the card I drew will be sent to the Graveyard." Everyone waited anxiously as Kite drew his card, "I'm relying on luck again," he muttered to himself, "whatever I draw will make up for this disgrace." He drew his card and revealed it to be Photon Crusher. "Since it's a monster it is automatically summoned to my field, and since that was your last attack there's nothing to do now." He was right, Hart set a card and ended his turn. Destiny break was destroyed and Kite started his next turn, "I draw!" he saw the card he drew and smirked maliciously, his aura increased.

"Oh no," Shark said, "this can only mean one thing!"

"It's coming!" Tori yelled.

Kite proceeded, "I summon Photon Satellite!" A small satellite appeared right next to Photon Crusher, much to everyone's relief, "I activate his special ability," Kite continued, "I can combine its level with another Photon monster and make both their levels the same," everyone was a little confused, "with that being said, both Photon Crusher and Photon Satellite are now level five!" "_I'm ready, Number 107_," Hart thought, "_give it your best shot_."

"I overlay my two level five monsters so I can build the Overlay Network and XYZ Summon Number 61: Volcasaurus!" A big red dinosaur emerged and roared with flames around it. "I remember that card," Yuma pointed out, "Yeah," agreed Shark, "it's that one we got from Scorch from our Tag Team duel!"

"I'm glad you remembered them," Kite told them, "you can visit them in jail when this duel is through," he shifted his focus back to Hart, "I activate Volcasaurus's effect, by detaching an Overlay Unit I can destroy your Gaia Dragon and inflict the amount of his attack points as damage to your life points!" Hart gasped as the damage made its way to his life points. He once again fell from the impact as his Gaia Dragon was no more.

Hart LP: 600

"I end my turn."

Hart was getting weak himself, "I draw," he said tiredly, "It's almost time, if I can't get to him with my cards then maybe I can with _his_." The younger Tenjo looked at the card he drew and had it all planned out, "I place a card facedown and end my turn."

"What?!" Shark yelled, "Hart are you out of your mind?! You gotta' do more than that!"

"This can't be it!" Yuma pointed out, "I never should've let you in on this!"

"I can't watch!" Yelled Tori, but Astral looked on, he knew Hart had something."

"I should've known," Kite said as he drew his card, "and I didn't even break a sweat, I activate Volcasaurus' effect to destroy your Asar and win this duel!"

Volcasaurus detached its last Overlay Unit and sent it to destroy Asar. There was an explosion and smoke surrounded everyone. "That's it, it's over," Yuma said defeated, "Hart lost and it's all our fault!"

"Yuma!" called Shark, "I can't see Rio, help me find her!" The smoke started clearing as they all calmed down when they saw what appeared to be Volcasaurus tied in chains! "What happened?!" Kite exclaimed, "I activated the trap Fiendish Chain," Hart explained, "this not only stopped your Number's special ability but it's also preventing him from attacking as well!" Yuma jumped in excitement, "yeah! Way to go Hart!" Shark sighed in relief, but shifted his focus back to Rio who was still unconscious and dangling above them on that crane.

"I end my turn," Kite said begrudgingly, "then I draw!" Hart exclaimed, "alright Asar, attack Volcasaurus and get it off the field." The dragon obeyed and within seconds Kite witnessed his Number destroyed before his eyes.

Kite LP: 400

"I place one card facedown and I'll end my turn," Hart awaited for Kite to do what he's been waiting, summon Number 107.

"Alright, I've had _enough_ of this!" Kite yelled, his entire aura and eyes switched color, "it's time I unleashed my full power on you, I draw!" From above, Rio started moving from her ropes, she slowly opened her eyes and screamed when she noticed she was high up in the air. "Reginald!" she called out for her brother, "Rio!" he called back, "I'm here, we'll get you down!" Kite ignored them, he was too focused on his soon-to-be victory, "get ready because this is the end!" Hart readied himself, "this is it," he said to himself."

"I summon Galaxy Wizard!" the spellcaster appeared and the aura took over as Kite continued his turn, "I activate his effect and double his level making him level eight!" Rio looked down and noticed the duel, "he's bringing him out again!" she screamed, "I have to stop him, but how?!"

"Since my Wizard is over level five I can activate Galaxy Expedition to summon Galaxy-Eyes Photon Dragon!" The familiar dragon appeared but its illuminating blue light didn't shine, when it appeared it looked so drained from its power that it looked like it was dying. "What happened to him?" Hart asked but he got no response as his possessed brother continued the duel, "I overlay my level eight Galaxy Wizard and Galaxy-Eyes Photon Dragonn! With these two monsters I build the Overlay Network and XYZ Summon the ultimate light in all the galaxies, come forth Number 107: Galaxy-Eyes Tachyon Dragon!"

The Tachyon Dragon appeared before everyone and roared with an ominous roar. Rio shuddered as she felt its power, this was hurting her! "I have to get out of here!" she tried to struggle but she couldn't get free, and even if she did there was a chance that she would fall to her death, knowing the possessed Kite, he'd probably let her and not catch her if he noticed.

Photon Dragon didn't even fight back on this summoning, he looked nothing more than an empty shell of what it once was and now he was a mere pawn in the summoning of something much worse. Hart examined the dragon from where he stood, it looked so wicked that he started having doubts about his plan.

"Welcome to your worst nightmare, Hart," Kite said as his voice changed to a different tone, this one had a malicious and deep tone, "your brother, or anyone else, _won't_ wake you up from this one!"

**To be continued…**

**A/N: There it is, part 1! Part 2 will not be far behind! Poor Hart, looks like Kite really **_**was**_** possessed and everyone was right, but show the kid your support, can he take on Number 107 for real this time? Find out next week, I'll be back then!**


	13. Chapter 13

**Disclaimer: Sorry I didn't reply to any of your reviews, my cousin recently passed away and it's really taking a toll on the family. And since this fic is family and friendship oriented I'd like to dedicate this chapter to him, for family. Now then, knowing full well about what's happened let's find out how things turn out for Hart, who do you think will win? I own nothing and I'm not making profit off of this so enjoy. Esto es para ti, primo!**

**Chapter 13: Seeing the Light, Part 2**

**** "Hurry up, we have to get over there _now_!" ordered Dr. Faker as he and Dextra ran to the copter and headed to Kite and Hart's duel. The doctor was so worried about his two sons that he didn't even want to think about who would win, given Kite's current state, Hart had no chance. The copter took flight and flew to their destination, "Number 107," Faker muttered, "that…damn Number…" Dextra was just as worried, "we might not get him back," she said silently, "but I'm not letting leave us so easily." The pilot flew the copter continued to fly until they arrived.

…

Rio struggled to get out of her ropes, Number 107: Galaxy-Eyes Tachyon Dragon was summoned and wrecking the field and Rio needed to get away from there. Shark watched her struggle but shifted his focus when Number 107 revealed himself in Kite's body, everyone was equally shocked as their theories were true, the Number _did_ in fact possess the Photon Duelist. The Ice Queen stopped her struggles and noticed something, her swinging in the struggle can come closer to the crane, that's when she got an idea. As everyone was paying attention to Number 107, she began her escape strategy.

…

"This is your worst nightmare, Hart," Number 107 said ominously, "there's no escape, my dragon has you cornered and with the powers of the Numbers by my side, it's impossible for you to walk away victorious!"

Hart was speechless, everyone's suspicions were true, and now that they were true, how can they get Kite back? "We're too late!" cried out Yuma, "with Kite no longer having control of his body we can never get him back!" Shark became frustrated, "this duel is over!" he ordered as he ran up to them and stood in between monsters and duelists, "this never should've happened, Hart, give him the Numbers, I won't stand by and watch you get beaten by him for our sake!" The younger Tenjo finally answered, "I have to, Shark, my brother can't be lost forever," he had tears coming down from his eyes, "he did so much for me when I was ill, he put his body on the line of death, he went through so much trouble just to help me, he fought with everything he had that I _must _do the same for him!"

"But Shark's right!" Yuma intervened, "your brother struggled hard against this very dragon and barely made it out alive, we can't have that burden on us and we'd never forgive ourselves for allowing you to put yourself in this kind of danger!"

Hart still refused, "it's not about the Numbers anymore, guys," he said as he struggled to stay up, "and it's not about winning either, Kite was only in this mess because he kept losing, one cheap victory from Skye and it shattered his world!"

"But _this_ is beyond the game," Tori told him as she walked up closer to him, "losing is a part of dueling, Kite just took that loss from Skye too personal, it can happen to anyone."

"But not to Kite, whenever he dueled it was for a reason, protect me, or protect the girl he liked, the one who loves him back, and Dextra would do the same for him too!"

Shark was a little relieved to hear that, but thinking that Kite was not into Rio made him realize- "Rio!" he looked back up and saw Rio doing something weird, he didn't what it was but at least she wasn't struggling with the risk of her fall.

…

Rio, with her legs free, clung on to the neck of the crane, she used her legs to climb up the crane a little to bring the rope connected to her binds closer to her mouth and began to bite away the strands. To make sure she didn't fall, she clutched her legs tightly on the machine. This way she'd make it to safety without making contact with the Number she feared the most.

…

"In case you fools have forgotten about me," Number 107 said, "there is still a duel in the process and I will not let you walk away victorious!" Everyone turned back around to face him, "Galaxy-Eyes Tachyon Dragon, attack his Asar!" Tachyon Dragon made its way for the attack, "I activate Tachyon Dragon's special ability and detach an Overlay Unit to negate you Hieratic Dragon's effect!" Asar was obliterated as everyone fell back from the impact.

Hart LP: 200

"I end my turn."

Hart's turn was next but he wasn't moving, neither was Shark, Yuma or Tori. As he lay there Hart thought about giving up, there was no point in getting up, there wasn't anything in his deck that could help him, maybe taking on Number 107 was a horrible idea, what was he thinking?

_Hart!_

He opened his eyes, he saw no one around but he recognized the voice from anywhere, "Kite? Where are you?"

_Don't give up! Keep fighting!_

The younger brother felt Kite's presence but couldn't find the strength to get up. Just then, the copter arrived. Dr. Faker and Dextra jumped right out of it and ran towards them, "Hart, my boy, speak to me!" Faker pleaded for Hart to still be alive, "father?" Hart noticed Faker there with him and smiled at him. Relieved, Faker turned to Number 107, "you bastard!" he pointed at him, "you let go of my son this instant!"

The Number chuckled, "you should be proud, Faker," he told him, "your son has accomplished more chaos in a mere few days than you did in half your lifetime!"

"Why are you controlling him?!" Dextra asked, "you could've controlled anyone else but why Kite?!"

"It's simple," Number 107 began, "Kite lost against that bastard Skye, that one-turn defeat was enough to make him come to me to finally unlock his true power. I knew that it was only a matter of time before he would come to me so he wouldn't feel hopeless. He needed power for victory so when he saw the light within me he had no choice, he wanted power and he wanted victory so I delivered to him what he desired in exchange for my control, and now that I'm calling the shots you can never get rid of me."

"What does that mean?" Faker asked.

"It means that with the Number so attached to Kite," Yuma said as he struggled to get back up, "he may never get detached from it, in other words, Kite might be lost to Number 107 forever." Faker shook his head, refusing to believe what he just said. Dextra stepped up to Number 107, she looked deep into his eyes hoping see a glimpse of Kite, "I did _not_ go through Hell and back protecting you just for this!" the Butterfly duelist yelled, she grabbed him by the collar, "I spent years watching over you, worrying about you, putting up with your stubborn bullshit whenever you hurt your body, but now you've gone too far!"

Number 107 grabbed her arms and pulled her in closer to him, "it doesn't matter!" he yelled, "and what exactly are _you_ going to do about it?!"

"Something I should've done a long time ago!" Dextra caught him off-guard and reeled him in and kissed him. All the memories Dextra shared with Kite, the day they met, when they were sent to Heartland's for aggressive training, watching over him whenever he put himself in danger, and everything she could remember was cut off short.

_Dextra_!

She heard that as she broke away from her kiss, "Kite?!" her questioning where the voice came from was interrupted as Number 107 shoved her away, "enough of this!" he yelled in disgust, "on with the duel, make your move because it's your last!"

…

Rio saw the whole thing, she couldn't help but feel something inside, watching Dextra on Kite that way upset her a little. Whatever, she didn't have time to dwell on that so she continued to bite off the strands of rope, her teeth were bleeding from the pressure she put on herself but the Ice Queen really needed to get to safety. The rope was getting weaker and her legs clung onto the crane until the last few strands ripped off allowing Rio to fall over backwards and unfortunately hit the back of her skull. "OW!" She winced at the pain rushing through her, her arms were still tied so she couldn't rub her head from the pain, "need…to get back up!" she struggled to pull herself up and lined up against the crane, slowly, she slid down the crane until she reached the machine's control panel and sat down to rest as quickly as she could.

…

"Hart, you're not continuing this duel, it's too dangerous!" Faker warned his youngest son, "Have Yuma or Shark, even Dextra face him, I can't lose you too!" Hart still refused, "You're gonna' get hurt," Yuma warned him, "let us handle this," Shark said as well. Hart didn't want to listen to reason, "he's there, I know it," Hart told them, "I heard him, Kite's there!" Hart stood up and looked at everyone, "Shark, if Rio was possessed by another Number would you back down even if all the odds are against you?" Shark turned away, he knew the kid was right, he'd do it all over again. "Yuma," Hart turned to him, "if your father was under the same possession, I know _you_ wouldn't stop until you brought him back, and you're still looking for him, your never-quit mentality motivated me to do the same." He finally shifted his focus to Dr. Faker, "and Father," he started, "if you were in my shoes, this would be your opportunity to make things right with Kite, you wouldn't throw away your chance at redemption even if your only chance to get him back meant risking yourself!" Faker looked at his son, he realized that he'd be robbing Hart the chance to repay his older brother for all the things he's done for him over the years, who was he to take that chance away?

"Alright, Hart," Faker agreed, everyone else joined in, "we're with you every step of the way," Yuma said, "we've got your back," Shark stated, "whatever you draw," Faker said, "will help you reach your goal, we're right behind you." Hart nodded and began his turn.

…

Rio was close enough to Kite, she noticed that she managed to get away unnoticed, she looked up at the big dragon and shook with fear but her determination began to take over. She closed her eyes and focused hard on contacting the Photon duelist from within, recognizing his new image when she landed.

_Rio!_

"Kite?" she asked, startled.

_Don't give up on me! Tell the others not to give up_!

"He's there!" She claimed.

…

"It's my move!" Hart announced, "and I draw!" he looked at the last three cards in his hand then looked over to the card he drew, "this is it!" Number 107 awaited for this move, "I activate Hieratic Seal of Supremacy! This allows me to summon a Hieratic monster from my hand and I choose Hieratic Seal of the Sun Dragon Ovelord!" A big golden sphere emerged from the card and made its presence known until its stats were shown. "0 attack points?! Is this some kind of joke?!" Number 107 yelled, "you've given up didn't you?!" The others were just as shocked, "Hart, that card has no attack or defense points!" Yuma said, "he doesn't even have a special ability!" Shark commented but Dr. Faker just cackled, "your fate is sealed, Number 107!" he said, "I created this deck for him and now you will feel the full wrath of the Hieratic Dragons!"

The others watched as the duel continued, "now I activate Monster Reborn," Hart went on, "this allows me to revive a monster from either of our graveyards and I'm reviving Kite's very soul!" To the Number's shock he wasn't expecting this, "I bring back Galaxy-Eyes Photon Dragon!" The dragon was revived and roared fiercely, it looked fully recovered, "no, this can't be!" Number 107 yelled, "you can't do that!"

"He can and he has!" Yuma claimed as his excitement increased, "get him, Hart!"

Hart looked up at Galaxy-Eyes Photon Dragon and stared at it for a few seconds until he made his next move, "I overlay level 8 Hieratic Seal of the Sun Dragon Overlord and Galaxy-Eyes Photon Dragon to build the overlay network and XYZ Summon Hieratic Sun Dragon, Overlord of Heliopolis!" Photon Dragon was more than consensual for this summoning as he reached his Overlay partner and emerged the new beast. This new dragon was golden all over, its illuminating light was blinding Number 107, he shielded his eyes and stepped back, it was too much for him to handle.

The Hieratic dragon roared fiercely, it looked directly at the Number and glared at it, "That-that's the card you-"

"Gave to Kite? It is," Hart told him, "I noticed something was wrong with Kite and I hoped that letting hold on to this card might help him, that I would watch over him in spirit through the card, and I'm going to do exactly that!" Number 107 took a step back, "I activate Heliopolis' special ability!" Hart announced, "by detaching an Overlay Unit, I can send monsters from my hand or field to the graveyard as tributes to destroy the same amount of cards on the field!" Number 107 gasped as the younger Tenjo proceeded with his claim, "I'll tribute Hieratic Seal of the Dragon King so I can destroy Number 107: Galaxy-Eyes Tachyon Dragon!" Hart pointed at the dragon and the effect kicked it, Photon Dragon was detached as his spirit emerged from the Sun Dragon and dove right in for the Number. Photon Dragon struck Tachyon Dragon and the Number was shattered in disintegrating pieces. Number 107 couldn't believe it, Number 107: Galaxy-Eyes Tachyon Dragon was finally destroyed..

"He did it!" Shark claimed, "he destroyed it!"

"Now's my chance, I'm finishing you off!" Hart prepared for the attack, "Sun Dragon Overlord, attack Number 107's life points directly and win this duel!" The golden dragon rammed towards him while the spirit of Galaxy-Eyes Photon Dragon appeared alongside him and joined in on the hit. Number 107's eyes widened as he saw his inevitable fate come true, he was struck hard and he fell back from the heavy impact.

Kite/Number 107 LP: 0

"He won! Hart won!" Tori cheered, Faker rushed back to Hart and held him, "I'm so proud of you, son!" he smiled with tears of joy coming down. Hart smiled, he was proud of himself too, he defeated the evil within his brother, repaid for everything he did for him and brought him back home. The poor kid felt so weak that he collapsed as his father luckily caught him just in time.

"Rio!" Shark ran to his sister and hugged her, he was glad she was safe now. "Dextra and Yuma ran towards the defeated Number 107, he was on the ground unconscious, the aura was no longer surrounding him, it weakened and decreased until it was fully gone, he was Kite again. "He's out cold," Dextra said cautiously as she felt his palm, "we need to get him some medical attention."

"We've gotta' get back to the tower!" Yuma exclaimed, "he's okay but he needs help!"

…

In the copter, Kite lay behind everyone, they congratulated Hart until he too passed out, the duel took a lot of energy from him and he rested his head o Rio's lap who caressed his head to sooth him to sleep. She took a few glances back at Kite, "he looks so peaceful," she said quietly, "I hope he'll be alright." Dextra was piloting the copter, she noticed Rio looking back at Kite, "_he's alright now_," she thought, "_that's all that matters_."

…

Within Kite's soul roamed Number 107, "I won't be defeated so easily," he said angrily, "I'll be back and take control once again and the power of the rest of those Numbers will be mine!"

"You're not going _anywhere_!" Number 107 turned around and was face-to-face with a familiar face, "the dueling spirit of Kite Tenjo," the Number said, "don't be foolish, you wouldn't even last." Number 107: Galaxy-Eyes Tachyon Dragon appeared alongside him and roared at the spirit.

Kite's spirit glared at them both, "maybe not," he told him, "but there's no way in Hell I'm letting you hurt anyone else anymore." Galaxy Eyes Photon Dragon appeared alongside the spirit and roared at the them, "there's no use for you anymore, Number 107, so allow me to be rid of you…once and for all!"

**To be continued…**

**A/N: Hart won! But now that Number 107 is out of everyone else's lives, will he be gone from Kite's? Only time will tell as well as the next chapter. Thanks for reading, as usual I hope you and everyone else who took the time to read this enjoyed this chapter. Hold your patience until next week for another update, I'll be back soon, until next time!**


	14. Chapter 14

**Disclaimer: Thank you all for the reviews, now we're getting to the good stuff, who will take control of Kaito for good? Just letting you know now that this will not be a duel, just an all-out war! *Laughs manically then coughs* excuse me, I own nothing so enjoy!**

**Chapter 14: Galaxy War: Part 1**

The spirit vanished, only Galaxy-Eyes Photon Dragon stood there alone and it looked vicious. The dragon stepped closer to its prey, Number 107 stepped back, "it's just you," he said, "you and what army?" At that statement appeared a few more monsters in illuminating light, Photon Thrasher, Crusher, Pirate, Leo, and many others. Kite's monsters have returned to exact their revenge for their destruction! Flashes of light kept breaking out as more Photon and Galaxy monsters emerged from the lights, Photon Dragon waited until every last one of them was present and ready for battle. The dragon roared a battle cry and the monsters ran towards the Number and end its reign.

Number 107 jumped up towards Tachyon Dragon and emerged with it, which put them all in a halt. In a few seconds they started running up to the Number once more only to be halted once more. Tachyon Dragon roared as purple light started shooting out of its body and pierced right through Kite's monsters and turning their blue light into purple aura! Every monster fell under its control, even Photon Delta Wing and Wyvern who were in the air were pierced by Tachyon Dragon's power. The Photon and Galaxy monsters turned around and faced Photon Dragon, purple aura and all, and proceeded to surround him.

…

Kite was rushed to the medical room, his aura kept appearing and reappearing during the process. Everyone could only stand by as the medical team tried to figure out what was wrong with him, they watched as the doctors did their job while at the same time imagine what would be Kite's outcome. Both Rio and Astral felt a disturbance within him and bided their time until they figured it out.

…

The Photon and Galaxy monsters drew closer to their former dragon lord, Number 107 looking on as his rival faced his demise. They raised themselves for the strike until a blast struck nearby them and caught them by surprise. Number 107 looked to the direction it came from and saw Photon Strike Bounzer standing in the distance, Strike Bounzer ran to them to aid Photon Dragon. Half of the possessed monsters ran towards the red warrior while the other half stayed to fight off the dragon, but their demise was quick as the distraction gave Photon Dragon enough time to power up and blast them all, much to Number 107's shock.

Photon Strike Bounzer ran through the possessed ones and struck them all as he went by. Number 107 took the opportunity to attempt to pierce his Tachyon light through him and possess him. The Number prepared itself but was ultimately stopped by Photon Dragon as he tackled him to the ground and struggled with him. With the possessed ones out of the way, sadly to be done, Strike Bounzer headed towards the dragons to join in but once again he was interrupted as more monsters joined the battle. Strike Bounzer looked ahead and saw the Numbers making their way towards them!

…

"He seems stable for the time being," one doctor commented, regarding Kite's state of health, "aside from being worn out he-whoa!" The doctors stepped back when Kite's sleeping body began to glow, his body began to shine marking allover, the symbols of the Numbers! "All my years in this career," another doctor said with fear, "I've never seen anything like this!" Although his eyes were still closed, Kite screamed in pain and began to jerk his body around, he could feel the Numbers hurting him.

Everyone came inside the room, "what's happening t-" Dr. Faker gasped in mid-sentence when he noticed the Number marking over his son, "well don't just stand there, do something!" he ordered, "b-but this isn't something we've ever worked on before, Dr. Faker!" one doctor claimed, "this looks something beyond medical-wise!" Yuma looked on at his friend writhing in pain, "_hang in there, Kite, you'll get better_!" he thought to himself. Astral watched the Photon duelist struggle on the hospital bed, he was even more mortified that they had to call two other doctors just to hold him. The disturbance he felt was even greater than before, he channeled his energy and proceeded to see what the problem was. Rio had the visions of the Numbers fighting inside, Dextra noticed her reactions, "what's wrong?" she demanded.

…

Number 61: Volcasaurus ran ahead of the other Numbers and caught up to Photon Strike Bounzer while Galaxy-Eyes Photon Dragon and Tachyon Dragon continued their own fight. The red warrior was outnumbered but his pride wouldn't let him give up so he took on the dinosaur Number. Volcasaurus fired up his attack and blasted Strike Bounzer. The smoke cleared and Strike Bounzer was still in one piece, he dodged the attack and proceeded to strike Volcasaurus. He noticed that the other Numbers were getting closer so he had to finish off the Number quickly but Volcasaurus had enough energy for one more shot. The dinosaur shoved Strike Bounzer away and blasted another shot at him but Strike Bounzer held on to the attack, he stopped it and the blast was evaporated! Wasting no time, Photon Strike Bounzer rammed right through Volcasaurus, defeating him for good.

But something wasn't right, Volcasausus was still intact, he wasn't defeated by another Number. Strike Bounzer may have weakened the dinosaur but the other Numbers were closing in on him. As they came closer, more monsters joined in. Landing before Strike Bounzer was Starliege Paladynamo and Starliege Lord Galaxion, they drew their swords and prepared to fight them off. The smaller Numbers went under the two Starliege warriors and headed towards Strike Bounzer but were stopped when Constellar Omega landed in front of them. Their battle went on.

The two Galaxy-Eyes dragons continued their fight for control, neither one would let the other win. Number 107 kept blasting Photon Dragon and Photon dragon, in turn, would banish themselves just to escape the blasts. Tachyon Dragon wasn't going down and the fact that he was a Number wasn't making it any easier on Photon Dragon to annihilate it. There had to be a way to defeat that Number.

…

"Yuma!" Astral called for his friend, "what is it, Astral?" Yuma asked him.

"I sense the Numbers fighting inside Kite's soul, his monsters need help!"

"What do we do then?" he turned back to see Dextra and Rio come running in, "everyone, there's a way we can help Kite get back to us!"

"What is it?" Shark asked.

"Rio told me everything," Dextra claimed, "the Numbers are fighting for control, we need to send our own monsters in there!" Rio spoke up, "if we don't do something to assist them then we'll lose Kite forever!" Dr. Faker looked back at his son, "they're not sending anyone in your soul alone," he walked out of the room and headed toward Hart's room, "I'll never forgive myself for this," he said to himself, "but we're a family and I need you, Hart…to get you brother back, I'll be watching you all the way, I promise."

…

Photon Dragon was getting weakened out, but he noticed that Number 107 was as well, they were evenly matched. As the Number stayed down and struggled to get up, a new monster, Photon Pappilloperative used her power to switch Number 107 back up by force, in its hurt state, Photon Dragon rammed right through the other dragon but was still intact. Number 107 was weakened for the time being so Photon Dragon and Pappilloperative headed to assist Strike Bounzer and the others.

They weren't having any luck either, the only reason they were outnumbered was because the Numbers couldn't be destroyed by them, that was their only advantage. While Number 107 was still gathering himself up, Photon Dragon surprised-attacked every Number and banished them to absorb their Overlay Units and although it put them to a halt, it didn't end the fight. Number 107 was finally up and the other Numbers took notice so they stopped their fighting and regrouped alongside the dragon. Every Number that was in Yuma's possession was now facing the very monsters that fought for Kite, all the monsters that battled to the end, looked dead in the eyes of their enemies. Their standoff, though still with the odds against them, had neither side looking to back down.

Number 107 glared at Photon Dragon and gave him a silent growl, the illuminating dragon returned the feeling. Number 10: Illumiknight ran up towards Constellar Omega as the others looked on, not one monster on either side jumped in. Omega looked ready to defend but the attack took no effect, the others looked on and saw Number 32: Shark Drake in front of the knight. Number 10 was immediately disintegrated, the first of the Numbers destroyed. Number 50: Blackship of Corn floated quickly towards Photon Pappilloperative and in to defend was Ice Princess Zereort, she froze the ship in its place and shifted her focus on another Number.

Soon, all the other Numbers began charging towards them and more monsters appeared to defend. Number 47: Nightmare Shark fought off Number 6: Chronomaly Atlandis, Photon Alexandra Queen was battling against Number 7: Lucky Straight, and Fairy Cheer Girl went head-to-head with Number 83: Galaxy Queen. Photon Dragon stared at Number 107 and readied himself to fight again but the Number stayed in its place. Number 107 noticed Number 92: Dark Mist was right behind Photon Dragon, the evil Number ran up towards him to strike him in the back but was sliced in half to both of their surprise! Number 39: Utopia had destroyed Number 92: Dark Mist. Utopia left to join the others as the two dragons fought once more.

…

"It's working, I can sense it!" Rio claimed as she envisioned their monsters aiding Kite's, "they're winning!" Tori turned to Dextra, "this was a great idea," she told her, "it's a good thing Astral is capable of doing this." The Butterfly duelist nodded, "as long as we keep fighting in spirit, our monsters will be just as strong. Dextra's plan was to get out their ace cards and hand them over to Astral, he then linked his aura with Kite's soul and transported the cards' spirits in the battle. He could feel the violence occurring and it pained him a little. Dr. Faker returned with an awake Hart in his arms, "do it, my son," he told him, "do it for your brother." Hart nodded weakly but still managed to pull out Hieratic Sun Dragon Overlord of Heliopolis and Astral absorbed in and was sent into Kite's soul. "All we can do now is hope for the best," Shark said as they all kept focus.

…

With a few new Numbers joining them, the odds were starting to even out, all the non-Number monsters weakened out their enemies while Utopia, Shark Drake, Nightmare Shark, Abyss the Waterfall Deity, and Crystal Zero the Polar Ice Princess finished them off, but they too were getting worn out. Even Starliege Paladynamo managed to remove their indestructibility and destroyed a few Numbers but his energy soon took its toll on him as well. They turned around to see Photon and Tachyon Dragon still fighting, this time in the sky.

Both dragons tried throwing the other down to the ground but neither would give up, it was like these two really _were_ meant to fight for all eternity. Hieratic Sun Dragon emerged from the sky and tackled Number 107 to the ground and continued fighting after they landed. Number 107 managed to shove off the golden dragon and distanced itself once again from the others. The leftover Number that survived once again joined with Tachyon Dragon as the ground started to shake.

…

Astral yelped in pain, "what's goin' on?!" Yuma asked, concerned for him. Rio yelled out too, "No! Not him! Anyone but _him_!"

"Rio, what do you see?!" Shark demanded but his answer came in the form screams of fear, "Number 107…!" Rio managed to speak out, "…he's ranking up!"

…

The Numbers distanced themselves from Number 107 as a familiar shape-like symbol appeared in front of the dragon, the Rank-Up Magic: Barians Force was now taking effect and he was illuminating into something much bigger. Every other monster stared helplessly as Number C107: Neo Galaxy-Eyes Tachyon Dragon appeared before them!

**To be continued…**

**A/N: Oh it's ON now! How are they going to defeat this almighty dragon? The real question here is **_**can**_** they defeat it? They're going to need more heart and strength now that Number C107 has arrived. We'll find out more in next week's update, until then! Also, I just went to see Insidious 2 and it got me inspired to make a new (possible) fic in the future, maybe, who knows. Goodnight!**


	15. Chapter 15

**Disclaimer: Let's welcome our newest follower, Koays, welcome to 'Light of Victory'! And thanks to my reviewers, now then, Number C107: Neo Galaxy-Eyes Tachyon Dragon has entered the building! How will our heroes make it out? Will Kite survive? Nothing is owned by me but we can still enjoy it can we? Also, I should let you all know that since the anime hasn't gone far enough, no one knows the effects of Number C107, neither do I so whatever effects he has here is irrelevant to the anime. But when they do show him and I'm right, I called it! Now enjoy the story.**

**Chapter 15: Galaxy War: Part 2**

Number C107: Neo Galaxy-Eyes Tachyon Dragon appeared before them and roared fiercely. It stared at Galaxy-Eyes Photon Dragon, it wanted him. Photon Dragon was a little worn out from all the fighting it endured with Number 107, now that Tachyon Dragon has Ranked-Up, how was he going to defeat him? He's not a Number, what can he do? The other monsters stood in front of the weakened dragon but their opponents stood their own ground. One thing was for sure, all monsters feared Number C107.

Utopia didn't want to back down, Shark Drake went up and stood alongside him, the two performed a Chaos XYZ Evolution and transformed into their Chaos forms, Utopia Ray and Shark Drake Veiss. Before another fight could ensue, _another _monster appeared, Felgrand the Divine Dragon Knight! The Silver knight emerged from above and landed in the middle, he looked on all sides and slowly made its way to Shark Drake Veiss and Utopia Ray. The opposing Numbers stepped up to continue but Number C107 stretched out its wing, signaling that this fight was his. The Ranked-Up dragon sped right through the three and started assaulting the tired Photon Dragon.

…

Kite winced in his trance, feeling every blow Photon Dragon endured. The others noticed and tried to ignore him, if they were going to stop his pain then they couldn't lose focus. Upon arrival of the new monster, Astral managed to transfer the spirit of Felgrand from Dr. Faker, he held up the card for Astral to complete the transfer and hoped for the best. "What is happening in there?" the doctor asked, "he just went right through them like bowling pins!" Yuma claimed, "and now Kite's dragon is getting beat up!" Faker couldn't believe it, "Felgrand is the card I _should've_ given to him, I will not have this plan go unsuccessful!"

"Then it's time for Utopia to Rank-Up as well!" Yuma told Astral. Rio's vision allowed her to see the on-going war, all the other Numbers were terrified, the way Number C107 fought Photon Dragon was beyond from what she's seen in duels, "Zereort," she said softly, "don't give up on him…" she looked around the room and saw how everyone was feeling, Tori had her eyes closed, pleading that everyone would be in one piece when it was all over, Hart was passed out in Dr. Faker's arms while still having his card in his possession, Yuma kept his focus on Astral while he in turn envisioned and sensed the fight, Shark was sitting in the distance but close enough to Rio, still holding on to Shark Drake Veiss, and Dextra held her card as well. Rio saw that the Butterfly duelist was standing over Kite and watching him writhe, "_she really _does_ care about him_," she thought, the Ice Queen began to look down to the floor, "_no_," she picked up her head, "_I_ _must be strong…for Kite_."

…

Number C107 tossed Photon Dragon across the battlefield as if he were nothing, now he was just toying with him. The three that were knocked down from the almighty Number were hurt just from that one strike. He's too powerful, but he must have a weakness, they all do, but what's his? Photon Dragon tried banishing themselves but for some reason it didn't work. Utopia Ray Ranked-Up and became Utopia Ray V, but he didn't stop there, he Ranked-Up once again into Utopia Ray Victory. He ran to Number C107 and started assaulting him. It worked for the most part but due to the power of the dragon he immediately fought back and knocked Number C39 back to its original form.

Felgrand stepped up, he used his effect and absorbed an Overlay Unit to prevent Number C107's immunity and strength. The dragon on the other hand noticed and just merely ate the Overlay Unit! He stalked his way over to them, ignoring Photon Dragon for the time being. Shark Drake Veiss used an Overlay Unit to weaken Number C107's attack points, the effect made its way to the dragon but he dodged it. As a still-weakened Photon Dragon was slowly getting up they all noticed that the effect was closing in on him!

Thinking fast, Felgrand absorbed another Overlay Unit to make Photon Dragon immune to it. When the dragon turned back around it was caught off guard by both Utopia and Veiss, this was so unexpected that he lost balanced and fell backwards. The other Numbers joined in and attacked the rest, causing the two Numbers holding Number C107 to accidentally free him. While that happened, he turned his intentions back to Photon Dragon who was still struggling to get back up. On the way back to finish him off, the Number was interrupted yet again!

…

Rio gasped as she came out of her trance, "Astral, do you sense that?!" Astral slowly nodded. "What is he sensing?" Faker asked her but Rio turned around to face Kite's possessed body, hoping that they'd listen to her and not mount her with question she didn't have time to answer. Everyone, except Astral, followed her gaze and noticed some changes to Kite's body. All the Numbers that were appearing on him were disappearing, only the ones that fell in battle, the ones that stayed on him were still very much alive. What shocked them all was that a new Number appeared on his chest.

"What's happening to him?" Tori asked.

"It's Kite," Yuma concluded, "we didn't lose him yet!"

"He's still…in there," Faker was a little relieved.

"That's right," Rio confirmed, "and he's fighting back!"

They were all confident because now they had a second chance and just by looking at the comatose Kite, they were certain that everything was going to be okay. The Number 46 on his chest was symbolic enough.

…

Number C107 was losing his patience, bad enough that there were more monsters preventing him from destroying Photon Dragon and taking full control of Kite but it seemed that the monsters just kept on coming. He needed to work fast so this new monster had to be annihilated fast. Number C107 was face-to-face with Number 46: Draggluon the Ethereal Dragon. These two have crossed paths before when Kite defeated Mizael and now they were on the same opposing sides, but this time, Number C107 wasn't going to let that unfortunate event repeat itself. Number 46 wasted no time either so it jumped at the other dragon and began its assault.

More Numbers were being destroyed but there were still a lot of them left, many of the non-Numbers were trying to stay intact and were barely surviving. Photon Alexandra Queen tried to send them away but there was always still another opposing Number preventing her from doing so. Utopia was too worn out to Rank-Up but refused to back down, Ice Princess Zereort looked from afar to the three dragons and Fairy Cheer Girl teamed with Constellar Omega and double-teamed against the weaker Numbers.

Number C107 shoved Number 46 off of him and got up but his opponent wasn't going down easily. The dragon went for Number 46 and ate the ground instead. This went on for another two attempts until Draggluon landed and attacked the opposing Number once again. It slapped him with its wing and used his head to ram him through the chest. The other monsters stopped their fighting and slowly made their way to them to witness their battle. Having enough of it, Number C107 prepared itself and absorbed an Overlay Unit, he aimed his strike at Number 46 and fired. Number 46 absorbed both his Overlay Units, but it was too late, he met his demise.

…

"No…no," Rio opened her eyes, she couldn't believe it. "What…happened?" Shark asked her, but the answer was said for her when they looked at Kite's body again and saw the Number 46 disappear from his chest. Astral winced from that impact, he was losing energy and focus and his body struggled with his illuminating light. "We've…lost him," Tori sadly said, "it can't be," Yuma was just as sad, he expected more from Kite, this couldn't be the end. Dr. Faker held Hart and wrapped his arms closer to him, "I'm sorry my son," he said softly, "I've failed you, you and your brother.

Kite fought against Number C107 as Number 46: Draggluon the Ethereal Dragon, even with Felgrand the Divine Dragon Knight they all proved no match for the powerful Number. Utopia's Ranking Up for once proved futile, was this really it? Rio held Kite's hand and emotionally collapsed beside him, she held his hand and placed it on her forehead while Dextra looked at Kite once more and let a tear escape her.

Once that tear hit Kite's body, his eyes burst open and his entire body illuminated into a red light. Everyone gasped and stepped back from the suspense and saw that his eyes were not of his regular color nor were they red. They appeared to be black with white markings, almost like a galaxy…

…

The smoke cleared as every monster alike witnessed Number C107 destroy Number 46: Draggluon the Ethereal Dragon. Knowing that this was pretty much the end, the Numbers regrouped with Number C107 while the other half tried not to collapse from exhaustion. Tachyon Dragon prepared itself for Photon Dragon when the smoke cleared, once he was finished with him, he wouldn't even have to worry about the opposing threat. With full control of Kite's body, he would be able to control all the Numbers from Yuma and Shark.

The smoke had a light beam through it, then another and then a third, until finally the view was made clear, there were _three_ Galaxy-Eyes Photon Dragons! The weakened one finally got to his feet and flew to the air to join the other two. Number C107 was too shocked for any moves, he could only see what was happening. The others looked on, they knew that only one of these dragons was gaining full control of their host in the end. The three Photon Dragons sparked their lights and merged together. Within seconds, Neo Galaxy-Eyes Photon Dragon appeared! The big red dragon roared at Number C107 and his standing Numbers, it wanted to fight.

Neo Galaxy-Eyes released a wave of energy that surrounded the entire battlefield; he made a powerful roar as all the monsters began to float forcefully to him. Number C107 felt the force pull on him too but his strength prevented him from leaving the ground. The gravitational pull from the ultimate Photon Dragon continued until every last monster no longer stood in their presence.

…

"His eyes!" Rio exclaimed, "they're…not red! What's happening to him?!"

"Look!" Dextra pointed at Kite's body, everyone saw the Numbers slowly start to disintegrate, everyone's cards were returned as they were emerged from Astral, he slowly landed and collapsed. The Numbers on Kite's body started disappearing while his eyes glowed, his eyes resembled a moving galaxy while the rest of his illuminated red light. Only his eyes and the number 107 in his heart remained. "This can only mean one thing…" Dr. Faker said, "his very soul…"

…

Neo Galaxy-Eyes Photon Dragon finished absorbing all the Numbers and the rest of the monsters. He roared at Number C107 Neo Galaxy-Eyes Tachyon Dragon, he didn't back down but he did step back. The two dragons stared at each other, but something was wrong, something didn't feel right, Number C107 started feeling…weak. It felt so different, so distasteful, and he wasn't too fond of it. The Number felt a cold chill, there was no wind so there was no real reason to react this way. The tables were turned when he realized what was wrong, when Neo Galaxy-Eyes descended he took away his indestructability! With no defense, Neo Galaxy-Eyes went for his kill and rammed right through Number C107, with all the monsters he absorbed, he wasn't finished, so he attacked him again, then again, and continued for several times.

He was making him suffer through each strike, Neo Galaxy-Eyes wanted to save his final blow to finish off the Number once and for all. He finally reached for his finishing strike and went for it, Number C107 defended himself as a last resort but proved futile, he received an Ultimate Photon Stream of Destruction blast through the body and collapsed, defeated at long last.

Neo Galaxy-Eyes walked to the destruction, he wasn't sure if it was the end. As he walked closer, he began to hear voices.

_You need me…power…victory_!

…_you can't kill a Number…we are one…together forever_!

He stood as he felt its presence; Number 107's spirit began reforming! The spirit of that dragon became intact and made a leap for Neo Galaxy-Eyes. What caught him off guard was the last thing Number 107 saw, a slight glimpse of the spirit of Number 46: Draggluon the Ethereal Dragon pop out of Neo Galaxy-Eyes! He grabbed Number 107 and his roar was the last thing Number 107 heard before everything went to black.

**To be continued…**

**A/N: What does this mean for Number 107? And what does this mean for Kite? Will he be alright or did Number 107 really succeed in taking full control of him? Find out next week, I'll see you then!**


	16. Chapter 16

**Disclaimer: I'm sorry everyone but it gives me great sadness to inform you all that 'Light of Victory' is coming to an end next chapter :-( I've done everything I could to make it last as long as I could and to my surprise I actually went farther than I originally planned and I couldn't be happier because it was all of you that made it happen. I'll thank you next chapter, one sad news at a time. But I will say this, I won't stray away from the Zexal archive, I'll be back, after all, I wouldn't be Luminous107 without some sort of cliffhanger ending now would I? In the last chapter, for those who missed it, Neo Galaxy-Eyes defeated Number C107 but the spirit of him lunged at him, but Number 46: Draggluon the Ethereal Dragon's spirit leaped out of Neo Galax-Eyes and grabbed **_**him**_**! What happened? Let's find out in the next chapter, not this one, you'll see why. Short chapter unfortunatelyunfortunatly, I own nothing, otherwise it'd be longer :-( **

**Chapter 16: It's… Over?**

Kite's galaxy-resembling eyes slowly closed, "what's happening to him?" Shark asked, everyone else looked on as Kite returned to a peaceful slumber. "He…lost, didn't he?" Yuma asked, sadness was in his tone, Tori put a hand on his shoulder. Shark looked away, Rio and Dextra were hurt. This was it, either they lost Kite forever or he'll wake up to be under Number 107's control again, looks like the Number won again. Dr. Faker noticed that Hart was waking up, "what happened?" the younger Tenjo asked, "I'm sorry son," Faker apologized, "but your brother-" he was interrupted when he heard a moan, he turned back to Kite and everyone else saw him open his eyes!

His eyes were…normal, they were no longer red or had galaxy patterns on them. His body didn't illuminate in any red light or anything. Kite slowly opened his eyes and began recognizing his surroundings, "D-Dextra?...Rio?" he was looking around and saw the rest of his friends and family, seeing Hart relieved him, "you're…back?" Hart asked him, his brother nodded in response. Kite was still lying on his bed while acknowledging everyone in the room, even Astral, his body seemed to still be worn out. Astral pointed out that he can't sense Number 107 within his soul so that meant that Kite was back to normal, or so it seemed. The Photon duelist slowly got up from the bed and made his way to Dr. Faker, the two looked at each other's gaze until Kite slowly hugged his father. Faker retuned the embrace while tears streamed down his eyes, "Father," Kite said softly, "I'm okay." Everyone else saw the joyous father and son moment, Hart joined them in a few seconds afterwards, Orbital looked on.

"So this is what a family looks like," Astral observed, "it seems that even the happiest of moments have no necessity for words, then it looks to me that there are some things that even words cannot describe." Rio joined her brother Shark and held on to his arm, Shark showed no annoyance as she did it. Tori walked closer to Yuma and grabbed his arm and wrapped it around herself, unfortunately he didn't seem to notice as his obliviousness was more distracted with Kite finally reuniting with his father.

Unfortunately, the moment was interrupted when they heard something. "What's that sound?" Rio asked, they all followed the sound and saw that it was coming from Kite! The Photon duelist broke away from Dr. Faker and looked down to see a card appearing in his hand. He gasped when the card finally appeared and, everyone else stared in horror as theyand saw that it was Number 107: Galaxy-Eyes Tachyon Dragon!

**To be concluded…**

**A/N: I feel so unaccomplished from this short chapter but it's for the best. How will it end? I'll be back next week to conclude this story, thank you once again! I'll save the rest for next week. Until next time!**


	17. Chapter 17

**Disclaimer: Well everyone, this is it, the final chapter of 'Light of Victory.' Before we start, let's review. Kite came under the possession of Number 107: Galaxy-Eyes Tachyon Dragon after a humiliating defeat resulting in him questioning himself as the Galaxy-Eyes Master, this in turn sent him on a sort of rampage throughout Heartland City. He went on from badly beating Nistro, disrespecting his friends, stealing Yuma's Numbers, manipulating Rio into joining him, blackmailing, putting everyone in danger, and even going as far as forgetting his brother Hart. Now that he's no longer under the Number's control, or so it seemed, how does it all end? Let's find out, I own nothing so enjoy the longest chapter I've uploaded, this is the finale of 'Light of Victory.'**

**Chapter 17: In a New Light**

"Aww, son of a bitch!" Shark yelled out in annoyance, "why won't he _die_?!"

The card revealed itself to be Number 107: Galaxy-Eyes Tachyon Dragon. Kite immediately let go of the card and expected it to fall to the ground but it floated instead. It went up to face him, "Stay back!" Dr. Faker stepped in front of Kite, "I'm not letting it take you again!" Yuma grinded his teeth, "Astral, we have to do something," he told his companion, Astral's expression was calm and not worried, "hey, can you hear me?! Number 107 is tryin' to take control of Kite again!"

"No, Yuma," Astral answered quite shocked, "the Number isn't trying to do anything."

"What?" he asked confused, "but it's-"

"He's right, Yuma," Rio spoke out, "I don't believe it either but I'm not sensing anything threatening."

Dr. Faker turned back at the glowing Number card, Kite looked at it too while shielding Hart behind him. Hearing Rio say that was trusting enough for the Photon duelist to slowly move toward it. "Father, it's okay," Kite told Faker, "I trust her word." Faker reluctantly allowed him to step forward closer to the glowing Number 107 and awaited the outcome.

"_He trusts her_," Dextra thought to herself, "_he_ _really _does_ care for her_."

Kite was face-to-face with Number 107: Galaxy-Eyes Tachyon Dragon.Just then, the spirit of Number 46: Draggluon the Ethereal Dragon appeared in front of everyone. "Draggluon," Kite stated, he looked at his Number who floated around Number 107, "what's the meaning of this?" Draggluon stopped moving and circled its way behind the Number card.

"I think he's trying to tell you something," Dextra told him, Hart watched the dragon trying to imply what it was saying, the card had a thin aura surrounding it but reverted itself back to its original clear card form. Draggluon stared at Number 107 until he shifted his gaze back to Kite, still confused, the Photon Duelist looked back at his father and Hart. He then looked back at Draggluon, the spiritual dragon let out a small and low growl-like roar as the card slowly floated in front of Kite. He slowly reached for it and felt its touch, nothing happened. Relieved, Kite looked at the card and realized it, one of Draggluon's effects involved taking _control_ of dragons!

"He's…mine," Kite said, "I'm the true Galaxy-Eyes Master…at long last." Kite embraced the feeling while everyone was having mixed thoughts. "How can you be sure?" Yuma asked him, "how do we know it's not gonna' possess you again?"

"It's simple," Astral pointed out beside him, "one of Draggluon's effects is that he can take control of a dragon-type monster, clearly he has done just that."

"So that means that-"

"Rather than having Number 107 control Kite, Kite now controls _it_."

Kite looked back at his card again, he was now the official owner of _two_ Galaxy-Eyes cards, he truly was indeed the real Galaxy-Eyes Master.

…

Kite was cleared the next day and was released from medical care. Dr. Faker brought him home to a gathering of other duelists from the past who wanted to see how he was doing. A little annoyed by all of the constant people coming up to him, he decided to walk around so as not to spend more than two seconds with any of them. While he walked he noticed that Dextra was nowhere to be seen. He walked back to Faker, "where's Dextra?" he asked him, "if this…_part_y is for me then shouldn't _she_ be here too?" Faker was too slow to answer as Rio came from behind him, "she left to the room she was staying at, she said that she'll be back in a bit." Kite nodded, he was about to turn around and walk some more until he felt a tug on his arm and was reeled in to Rio's hug, "welcome home, Kite," she told him, he didn't say anything, just soothed her by returning the embrace. He let her go and she walked away, Rio slightly turned her head back a little until she met up and joined in on Michael and Thomas' conversation.

Kite noticed Shark in the far corner with his arms folded and that glare he was giving him. Knowing that he couldn't escape the inevitable, the Photon duelist narrowed his eyes at him and walked over to Shark. He stood by him but not facing him, "alright, let's hear it," Kite muttered, "I have no idea what you mean," Shark replied.

"Yeah, and I'm supposed to believe you came here on your own?"

"Yuma pitched the party, Tori just went along with it and Rio made _me_ go along with it too."

"Figures."

Shark looked to the ground, "so," he said sarcastically, "how do you like your new Number?"

"I've grown accustomed to it," Kite responded in the same tone, he slightly turned his head to catch a glimpse of the Water duelist, "I'll be more than obliged to test it on you in our next duel."

The two boys looked on as the rest of the guests continued talking amongst themselves, "she hugged _me_, Shark," Kite finally spoke out, "get over it."

"She's all I have left," Shark replied, "after the whole thing with the Barians, Nasch and them, now the whole thing with you and Number 107, Rio seems to be doing a lot for you now."

"There's nothing going on between us."

"And I'm supposed to believe there's nothin' goin' on between you and Dextra either?"

Kite scowled at him, "that's in the past, along with the bitterness between us."

Shark gazed at the ground, "even so…but if there is somethin' goin' on between you and my sister I _will_ find out."

Kite had enough of the conversation so he started to head in a different direction.

"Although I _will_ admit," Shark spoke out, causing the Photon duelist to stop, "even if she _is_ with you then I'll know it's with someone she knows." Kite raised an eyebrow, "what about Thomas?" he asked him. Shark glared at him until he was facing him, "fangirls Kite, fangirls," he answered, "that entire bunch and their center of attention don't exactly scream trustworthy, _or worthy_ for that matter."

"What are you saying, Shark?"

"You _know_ what I'm saying, I warned you, so if you hurt my sister then I'm sendin' you _back_ to the hospital." Kite smirked maliciously, he knew Shark was serious but he didn't fear him. He signaled that he understood and walked off, "lesser of two evils, my ass," he muttered sarcastically, "whatever." Kite walked past the banquet hall and saw Yuma pigging himself out on the food that was served while Tori scolded him for it. He didn't seem to notice so he continued eating. "I will never invite him over here for dinner," Kite told himself, he took another step and bumped into Chris.

"Hello, old friend," he greeted Kite, "how are you feeling?"

"I'm okay, Chris," Kite answered, "I've dealt with worse."

Chris nodded, "I'm sorry I wasn't there to help you, if I had known sooner then maybe-"

"Don't be, you've done enough with the Barians; I didn't need another person involved in _that_ mess."

"Still…"

"Chris, I've been thinking since last night that maybe this whole thing _had _to happen, like no matter what I'd do I'd become Number 107 just to be me once again."

"It's a possibility; life teaches you things such as the reasons behind it. Perhaps you _were_ destined to lose and have the Number possess you, you've had it for so long it was _time_ for you to use it."

Kite looked over to his deck box and pulled out Number 107, "it feels strange holding this and not feeling that overwhelming power."

"Maybe so, but if I were you I'd thank everyone who stood by me and were able to put up with your mentality, Mizar would be proud if he were here."

Kite smiled, "maybe I _was_ too weak to possess such a strong and powerful dragon," he concluded, "maybe I needed to go through all of that to prove my strength." Chris nodded in agreement, "losing can be a good thing," he said, "you were my apprentice once, I would've been honored to lose against you, that would be the day I knew that I accomplished my goal, to make you strong and mentally capable." Kite nodded and excused himself to go find Dextra.

…

Dextra was in the room Dr. Faker allowed her to stay in, she was packing her stuff to return to Spartan City. Now that Kite was back to his normal self she could move on without worrying about him. "Leaving already?" the butterfly duelist turned around to see Kite standing by the doorway, "today, yes," she answered him, "I'm going back to Spartan City."

"To Nistro?"

"I don't know, why is it so important to you?"

"Just asking, I noticed he wasn't here anymore."

The two stood in silence while Dextra finished packing her things, "My father told me you played a great role in helping me," Kite spoke out. "We all did, Kite," Dextra replied, "you shouldn't just thank me, thank Yuma and Shark and…_her_."

"You mean Rio?"

Dextra closed her eyes and sighed, "I'm sorry," she apologized, "I shouldn't be like that to her."

"I don't understand."

Dextra sat on the bed and motioned for Kite to sit with her, "look," she started, "during my stay here, I learned that it's not okay to be with someone…when there's someone else. I've been with Nistro since we left for Spartan City and we've been okay for the most part, except when he tried to get me to wear that hideous outfit, but we were okay."

"What are you saying?"

Dextra's face changed to a more sympathetic expression, "I still love you, Kite, but I still love Nistro too."

"Then stay," Kite grabbed her hand, "if you don't want to go back then stay here."

"I wish I could, but I can't, Nistro still needs me."

"But isn't this what you wanted? I'm giving you the opportunity."

"I'm flattered but I can't, knowing that there might be someone else."

"Who _is_ this other person? There _isn't _anyone else."

"That's what I told Nistro when _we _got together and look what happened there."

Kite let of her hand, "is this about Rio?" he asked, she nodded in response, "as long as she's here and I'm here we'll both be fighting over you as if you were a toy doll." Kite turned away, rejected, but he felt a hand pick up his face and turned to face Dextra, "but that doesn't mean I'm not giving _you_ a chance," she told him, "but before we can even consider being together you have to make sure there's nothing between you and Rio." Now she put her hand on his, "I'm going back to Nistro and hopefully we can work things out, I'm stepping aside and letting you and Rio have a chance so you can see if things will work out, but if they don't and there's nothing between you then you know where to find me." Dextra reached over to him until she was close enough and gently kissed him. She had been waiting for this moment for a long time, she kissed him before but that was when he was possessed, now, she had the real Kite in front of her. Dextra placed a hand on the side of his face as he returned the affection, "I love you Kite," she confessed, "I've been waiting a long time for you and I'll still wait a little longer, but I can't wait forever, the decision is yours, and I'll support however you decide because that's how much I care about you."

Kite bowed his head in shame before picking it up again to face her, "I'm sorry for leaving you with Vetrix," he apologized, "I should've done something then maybe he wouldn't have hurt you. "Don't be sorry," she kindly told him, she placed her hand on his leg, "you were looking out for Hart, you had to do what needed to be done, I was just looking out for _you_ because of your condition, you were close to losing Hart, I couldn't lose you." They stood up and Kite hugged her, "I'll miss you," he said, "I'll miss you too," Dextra replied. They separated the embrace and walked out to return to the party. "_I'll take your advice_," Kite thought, "_maybe we'll still have a chance…someday_."

…

Kite thought about what Dextra said, he was willing to make up for leaving her at the mercy of Vetrix back at the Duel Carnival but she brought up a good point, what about Rio? He didn't think much about Dextra in the first place and the thought of Rio almost seemed random yet placed so perfectly. More to the point, he didn't think about either of them as he was too busy recovering from the chaos Number 107 caused with him, but now that this new evil has been dealt with and now fighting by his side, he could take on this new dilemma. Dextra was right, the same way the Photon duelist needed to go through this disaster in order to fully control Number 107, he needed to go through both girls to see where things would go.

The party ended and Dextra's flight was prepared for her. The rest of the guests were already departing while the rest of them stood atop the pad to see her take off. Yuma and the others said their goodbyes, she then went to Rio and stood in front of her, "watch over them," she told them, "men can be pretty stubborn." Rio chuckled a little, "listen, Dextra, about Kite, I-"

"Don't, it's okay."

"But what about you?"

"Don't worry about me, I'll be fine. I've talked to him and I think you should too." She nodded and went over to Kite, "think about it, okay?" Kite nodded and hugged her again, "give my best to Nistro, or worst, whichever one he'll believe," Dextra responded to his sarcasm with a kiss to his cheek. The Butterfly duelist turned around and waved goodbye for the final time until she flew off. "_It's for the best,_" she thought, "_I want him to be happy, regardless of whoever makes him feel that way_."

They departed from the pad and began making their way down the staircase. "Let's go, Rio," Shark said to his sister, "wait," Kite ordered, the only ones standing there were him, Shark and Rio, "I need to talk to your sister." Shark glanced back at Rio then back to Kite, he stood there in silence, "well?" he asked sarcastically, "talk to her then."

"Alone."

"Why? What have _you_ got to hide?"

"Oh just _go_, Reginald!" Rio ordered her brother, "it's just me and Kite alone for a bit, what could go wrong?"

"Last time I left you alone with Kite you were hanging above us on a crane."

"You left me alone with Number 107, not Kite." She got him there, "whatever," he muttered and left but not before establishing himself in a close range where he could still hear them. Rio ignored her brother's stubbornness and shifted her focus back to the Photon duelist.

"Listen," he started, "I just want to say I'm sorry for the things I've done to you, I wasn't myself and I wouldn't have done it."

"You don't have to apologize," Rio replied, "you said it yourself, you weren't all there so don't worry about it."

"Okay then," Kite wanted to leave it at that, he didn't want the awkwardness to increase anymore than it already had to. "Why didn't you stop her?" Rio asked him, "You mean Dextra?" he asked in response.

"Yeah, if you really care about her then you should've stopped her when you had the chance."

"She had her reasons for leaving, I couldn't stop her, I already tried."

Kite walked closer to Rio, "why did you help me?" The Ice Queen looked up in confusion, "why did you put yourself in danger for me?" Rio didn't answer, Kite asked her again but she just turned away. "Rio?" Kite asked for the third time, his patience was being tested, "why did you do all of that, for me?"

"Because…_someone_ had to."

"What?"

"Well what was I supposed to do? Have Hart do it instead? You _or_ your father wouldn't forgive me for putting him in that situation, I couldn't let Yuma do it, you were after his Numbers, and Tori wouldn't allow it anyway!" Kite realized that she was right, "what about your brother?"

"You've seen Reginald in action, he's all fist-to-face and foot-to-ass and no asking questions later."

"Is that all there is to it?"

"Well…no," Rio looked away, "to be honest, Kite, I started feeling something while I was getting to know you more, I saw a lot of my brother in you, the protecting side of you, I just wanted to return the favor to you both."

"That was very reckless of you."

"That right there makes you sound like Reginald, I wanted to prove to you both that I _can_ look after myself, so I had to do something to help you two out, I couldn't just stand there while the trouble went on."

It seemed as no matter what Kite said, Rio always retaliated, "besides," she continued, "if Tori's watching over Yuma and Astral and I'm watching over Reginald, who's watching over _you_?"

Kite had nothing, he couldn't even answer, "Orbital won't last long in what we've been fighting against, Hart won't be allowed to fight alongside us, not after what happened, and your father can't afford to suicide himself in whatever heads our way out of guilt," Rio pointed out.

"I look out for myself, I always have."

"No, you've had Dextra watching over you…and I can't stand in the way of that."

Kite looked up and as Rio turned to face him, "what are you saying, Rio?" he asked her, the Ice Queen looked up, "you're not the only one who's had a hard life, Kite," she softly told him, "remember, I was Merag at one point, my parents are gone, and I've been in the hospital for my eyesight, we all share that same burden."

Kite started to understand, "I care about you, just as much as Yuma and Reginald, maybe a little more than you think," Rio continued, "what about Thomas?" he asked her, "fangirls Kite, fangirls, do I really need to get into any more detail?" Kite smiled and glanced away from her a little, "same thing with Bronk," she said, "I could care less about his looks yet he's a really sweet guy but he doesn't share that same pain and determination like I do, but you do."

"There's a difference."

"Like you and Dextra? I know she doesn't care that you're a little younger than her, even _shorter_ than her, it's about that feeling you get knowing that there's someone you know that…knows."

Remembering what Dextra told him, Kite took the opportunity, "trust me Rio," he said, "I know more than you think," he acted on instinct and placed his hand behind her head to reel her in for his kiss. They both felt a sudden guilt for Shark but it didn't matter at this point, they were lost in their trance. The two broke from the embrace, "Reginald's gonna' be so pissed," Kite softly chuckled at Rio's little remark, "well, Rio," Kite held her hand, "do you want to give it a chance?"

"I'd love to, Kite," Rio responded but her smile right away faded in a disappointing look, "but I can't." Kite was confused, he slowly let go of her hand, "I can't because I can't help but feel that there's something left between you and Dextra."

"How do you know about us?"

"Yuma filled me in at the party earlier, I understood why she was a little harsh on me whenever I uttered your name but it's because I know you two have a history, I don't want to get in the way of that."

"But-"

"You and Dextra deserve a chance, from what I hear she's been waiting for you forever and I don't think it would be fair to her if you chose me when she's been longing for you longer." The Photon duelist was speechless, was this really happening? Did two girls really just reject him in less than a day?

"But if you're serious about us," Rio continued, "then take some time to think about it, whatever you decide will make you happy and keep you safe, that's what really matters to me."

"I-I don't know what to say…"

Rio put a hand on his shoulder, "you don't have to say anything, just think about it," she said, "if you want to go back to Dextra then I won't stop you, but if you reconsider then you know where to find me." she stood on her toes and kissed his cheek, "the choice is yours, Kite, and there's no wrong decision." She walked out the pad leaving Kite there all by himself, confused as to what just happened.

He was stuck with a big decision and it was bugging him. Kite pulled out his Number 107 card, "this is all _your_ fault," he scolded it, "if you'd have just left me alone then _none_ of this would've happened! At least give me a sign as to what I should do?!" Just then, a new light emerged from his deck box! Kite panicked and dropped it only to realize that Number 107 was still in his hand! The light wasn't even coming from the card. He carefully picked up the box and pulled out where the light was coming from, Galaxy-Eyes Photon Dragon!

The light emerged from the card and transformed into a human being, a spirit, and it was floating before Kite! The spirit had long shining blue hair with eyes to match, she was tall, close to height as Dr. Faker. Her clothes consisted of a light-blue robe with red designs, she was beautiful, and Kite instantly recognized her.

"Mother…?"

"Kite…my son," she spoke, her son wasted no time, he nearly flew to her and wrapped his arms around her. He sobbed on her robe while she soothed him, "shh, it's okay my son, I'm here."

"Mother, I-I miss you, I'm lost without you here!"

"I know, Kite, I miss you too, your father, your brother, even Orbital, I miss you all so much."

"I wish you were still here, I'd do anything to bring you back!"

Kite's mother held his shoulders and made him face her, "but I'm already here with you," she said, "I'm the one who watches over you, protects you," she held his hand, the one still holding Number 107, "even when it seems like you're lost, I always bring you back on the right path." She wiped a few remaining tears from his face, "I love you, Kite," she smiled at him, her angelic smile soothed him as she placed her hands around his face, "and I'll always be with you, in spirit, I'm your mother and I'll do whatever I can to protect my family." She then leaned over to him, "don't ever feel like you're alone, remember who's right there with you, when you draw, remember me." Kite hugged her while she was still in sight, his mother kissed his forehead until she slowly vanished back into the card of Galaxy-Eyes Photon Dragon.

When everything cleared up, Kite looked around for his mother but after calling out for her he realized it was no use. He put Number 107 back in his box and noticed that Photon Dragon was still on the ground. He picked it up and gently hugged it while he softly sobbed.

…

A few days later, Kite met up with Shark and Yuma at their school during their free Duel periods. The three trained hard for collecting more Numbers should case be if a Holder refused to give it up. During this time, Kite began getting the hang of using Number 107: Galaxy-Eyes Tachyon Dragon and saw it as a valuable ally. His mind still wondered about Dextra, then it would wonder about Rio, but he always kept it to himself. He couldn't ask Yuma for help as he was much too young to understand but noticed that the young eccentric duelist had gotten a little more affectionate with Tori, more so than usual so it was safe to assume that he too was just learning about the next level of friendship. Shark was obviously out of the question so there was no need in going there.

Weeks went by and Kite came home from another duel with his two partners, he still couldn't get over the fact that most of that school still feared him. Even Skye and Connor wouldn't make eye contact with him. But despite it all, Kite moved along, Shark and Yuma were the only real opponents he needed to hone his dueling skills with, only they were worthy of his time. The Photon duelist entered his home and went straight to his room to rest until he needed to return to pick up Hart. He sat in his room and turned to his right as something caught his attention, it was a purple butterfly.

Kite got up and left his room, he just got home so now wasn't the perfect time to think about his difficult…ultimatum. He went to the kitchen and poured himself a glass of water. He reached for the ice and was about to drink until he realized he was face-to-face with the ice. Aggravated, he dropped the glass in the sink and went to the simulation room to duel a few Duel-bots to get his mind off of it.

It became time to pick Hart up from school so Kite, relieved, left the house in a hurry. When he got there he saw all the students meeting up and conversing with each other, he walked through them as their fear of him led them to clear a path for the Photon duelist. He shrugged it off and continued to look for his brother. Kite finally found Hart standing with Yuma, Shark and Tori, they greeted him and after a few seconds of planning for the following day, the Tenjo's departed.

When they turned around, Kite came face-to-face with Rio. The two stayed silent until Rio spoke the first word, "hi," she greeted them.

Hart smiled and waved at her, Kite nodded in her direction and continued to stare at her for a few seconds more. "Rio," Shark rode up in his motorcycle, "let's go," Shark didn't glare at Kite this time, he didn't want Hart to think there was anything bad between them. Rio excused herself while still having her eyes on Kite as she walked over to her brother and drove off. That right there alone just answered Kite's question, he now knew what to do.

Kite brought Hart to Orbital and the robot transformed into his cycle mode to take them home. "Rio reminds me of mom," Hart randomly said, Kite just stopped walking when he heard that, "I think it's her hair, don't you think?" Kite faced his brother, "Hart, there will never be another like our mother," he told him sincerely, "remember, she will always be in here," he pointed to his heart, "as long as we remember her, we'll never be alone." Hart smiled, "she loves us and Father, you know that, right?" the younger Tenjo nodded and they went inside the house.

…

That late afternoon, Kite went to his room with his old D-Gazer in hand. After giving it much thought, Kite finally knew what to do. His encounter with Rio answered his feelings and he was ready to act on them. Dextra and Rio wanted Kite to make sure that there was nobody else so there would be no problems, and that's exactly what he made sure of. He activated the Gazer and scrolled down until he found the number and dialed. He heard it ring a few times until the image popped up.

"Hello?"

"Hi."

"Kite?"

"Yeah, it's me. Listen, I've thought about it and I've realized that there isn't anyone else, and if you're willing to give us a try then…" His voice faded.

"…" there was no response so he continued talking.

"You know, I never _did_ get a chance to properly thank you for helping me with the Number 107 problem…and I was wondering that maybe we could get together…so that I can properly thank you for not giving up on me."

"…I'd like that, Kite."

The End

**A/N: And there you have it everyone, 'Light of Victory!' I want to thank all my followers, reviewers and everyone else who took the time to read this story. This was my first Zexal fic I've done on this site and possibly my most popular, but this story wasn't done by me alone, it was all of you that helped me make it last longer. I went as far as I could with it and managed to go even further than I originally planned. I didn't end it because I ran out of ideas or if I was getting bored with it or because I wanted to end it altogether, no, I ended it because it ran its course, please try to understand. Thank you all again for everything and I hope to return to the Zexal archive in the future. As for the ending? The clues are right there everyone, I'm pretty sure you know who Kite ended up with ;-) It was fun while it lasted and I thank you again, until next time! There might be a sequel!**


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